In today's Gazette: Woman held after glass attack (From Gazette)

Regarding the Glass Attack printed in today's Daily Gazette.
Although this happened in London, this woman is from the Colchester area, she could have been in any one of our late night pubs, clubs or venues.
Last year Colchester had six people that I know of attacked with either glasses/glass bottles and although our Police force are in favour of switching to safer alternatives (PET bottles and polycarbonate glasses), our licensees are not!
When are the licensees of all these establishments going to realise that you will not be seen as a 'no go' venue because you use these safer alternatives but instead, an establishment that cares for not only its patrons, but its staff also.
These are the facts:
1.2 million incidents of alcohol related violence per year
87,000 reported glassing attacks (there are many more that go unreported)
40% of A&E admissions are alcohol related (rising to 70% between midnight and 5am Friday-Monday)
The costs to our NHS system alone are £1.7 billion per year!
In December last year I witnessed the handing in of POP-Campaign's 118,000 signature petition to No 10 Downing Street for the ban of glasses/glass bottles in all our city and town centre late night pubs, clubs and venues. POP-Campaign have been urged to have a back-up e-petition in case the debate in the House of Commons that has been asked for is rejected.
If you agree that these glassing attacks need to stop then please visit www.pop-campaign.co.
uk and sign the e-petition. You can also find them on facebook.
Common sense needs to prevail here, we are not asking for a blanket ban. We're not talking about country pubs or restaurants but the town and city centre venues that have a high volume of clientelle.
I am meeting with Sir Bob Russell MP this Saturday to discuss this very subject. Although the Police have new legislation to deal with this, it's like shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted ... somebody has to suffer a glassing attack before they, and the licensing authorities, can act. Let's finally wake up and realise it's not working!
Rant over!

A very good post KarenF

I would be quite happy to drink out of PET bottles or polycarbonate glasses.

Perhaps our council could be forward thinking and refuse licences to any venue not prepared to use the alternatives mentioned above.

It's a sad picture of British society that the above needs to be considered as the rest of Europe seem to cope with glasses without the need for some thug to shove it in your face.

Another good alternative would be for the courts to start handing out decent sentences.

karen f wrote:
Regarding the Glass Attack printed in today's Daily Gazette. Although this happened in London, this woman is from the Colchester area, she could have been in any one of our late night pubs, clubs or venues. Last year Colchester had six people that I know of attacked with either glasses/glass bottles and although our Police force are in favour of switching to safer alternatives (PET bottles and polycarbonate glasses), our licensees are not! When are the licensees of all these establishments going to realise that you will not be seen as a 'no go' venue because you use these safer alternatives but instead, an establishment that cares for not only its patrons, but its staff also. These are the facts: 1.2 million incidents of alcohol related violence per year 87,000 reported glassing attacks (there are many more that go unreported) 40% of A&E admissions are alcohol related (rising to 70% between midnight and 5am Friday-Monday) The costs to our NHS system alone are £1.7 billion per year! In December last year I witnessed the handing in of POP-Campaign's 118,000 signature petition to No 10 Downing Street for the ban of glasses/glass bottles in all our city and town centre late night pubs, clubs and venues. POP-Campaign have been urged to have a back-up e-petition in case the debate in the House of Commons that has been asked for is rejected. If you agree that these glassing attacks need to stop then please visit www.pop-campaign.co. uk and sign the e-petition. You can also find them on facebook. Common sense needs to prevail here, we are not asking for a blanket ban. We're not talking about country pubs or restaurants but the town and city centre venues that have a high volume of clientelle. I am meeting with Sir Bob Russell MP this Saturday to discuss this very subject. Although the Police have new legislation to deal with this, it's like shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted ... somebody has to suffer a glassing attack before they, and the licensing authorities, can act. Let's finally wake up and realise it's not working! Rant over!

Well said ,I am in total agreement and would hope our local MP would give this his full support

So now we blame the landlord.

I am not blaming any landlords. I am sure though that they would appreciate lower insurance premiums, in the long run lower replenishment costs of glassware, to know that their staff and patrons will be safer as it's not just attacks that cause injuries it's accidents as well which then lead to time off work and more costs incurred by the licensee.