Licensee sues CPS after pub attack
A licensee is suing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for £10,000 for not bringing a man who attacked him to justice.
Lessee David Sullivan has provisionally been granted the money but the legal battle will continue after the CPS appealed his claim.
He spent 10 days in hospital after allegedly being punched in the head while phoning the police after the attacker refused to leave his pub.
Sullivan was also left with a broken toe and bleeding mouth after the incident last August. He's currently living on incapacity benefits at Charles Wells' Oddfellows Arms in Higham on the Hill, Leicestershire.
Police arrested a man but the CPS chose not to prosecute.
"I didn't hear anything for ages, then all of a sudden someone came in and saying the guy was walking around the village holding a letter saying the CPS wasn't going to take action against him," said Sullivan.
The CPS reviewed the incident after Sullivan complained, but did not prosecute, saying there were conflicting reports about what happened.
Sullivan sued the CPS for £10,000 for breach of responsibility.
"It's not about the money, it's about wanting to know why the CPS didn't prosecute," the host said.
Sullivan won because the CPS didn't acknowledge the summons and submit a defence within 14 days.
The licensee must apply to the High Court for the money, but in the meantime the CPS has applied for the judgment to be set aside. A hearing is set for Nuneaton County Court in June.
The CPS said there "was not enough evidence to charge anybody with any offence".
It said: "The people involved gave differing versions of what happened, and as the accounts contradicted each other on several aspects it became very difficult to prove exactly what had happened to the standard we are required to meet by the court."
Court not caution
National Pubwatch is campaigning for anyone who assaults a licensee or member of pub staff to face court.
Its Court Not Caution is gaining momentum, with 50 MPs putting their name to an Early Day Motion petition backing the campaign.
Meanwhile, around 400 people have signed an on-line petition on the issue to Gordon Brown — click here to sign up.
