Birmingham bar at heart of attempted murder investigation claims new rules are 'crippling' trade
Two bouncers at the O Bar on Broad Street were stabbed in May 2023.
A bar at the centre of an attempted murder probe has claimed trade is ‘down 75 per cent’ due to an enforced and ‘strict’ ID policy.
Two bouncers were stabbed at O Bar, on Broad Street, Birmingham, following a disorder inside the venue on Sunday 7 May.
The bar had its licence temporarily suspended but reopened a month later under strict conditions recommended by West Midlands Police. Those were that all revellers visiting the venue after 9pm, regardless of age, would need to provide ID to put through a new scanner – or be refused entry.
O Bar agreed but now says ‘strict’ conditions have ‘crippled’ the venue, claiming it had turned away ‘an insane number’ of older customers without ID in recent months – despite them being of drinking age. The venue said older generations make up a large portion of its clientele and on Tuesday, October 10, asked a licencing committee to modify the terms.
The new terms were that only customers who appear aged under 25 would be required to provide ID for the scanner to process. O Bar, to demonstrate how often it had refused entry to big groups, showed councillors on the committee a clip from last weekend.
"Do you know how old I am?"
The video showed several groups of people being turned away at the door because they had no ID. One man in the video said to the doorman: “Do you know how old I am? I’m, like, 40.” Another reveller, speaking to someone in his party, who had just been refused entry, said: “You’re expletive 45.”
Licensing lawyer Duncan Craig, speaking on behalf of his client O Bar, said at the meeting: “Older people typically don’t carry ID and, as a consequence of that condition, a number of people aren’t able to enter the venue.” He gave an example of the bar recently turning away eight school teachers, who the doorman believed to be of age, but couldn’t allow them entry as two in the group were without ID.
“Business is down 75 per cent,” added Mr Craig. “They used to open Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays but don’t even bother now because the older generation don’t carry ID and they can’t let them in. It’s a venue that attracts an older crowd.”
He urged the committee to agree to the new terms and used divorce as an example of how people “revisit decisions”. “We all agree to things…marriage being an example…agree to things that don’t work out,” he said. “My client is not looking to remove the condition, but to modify it.”
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in May. A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: “Following enquiries the man arrested will face no further action. Anyone with information can contact us via Live Chat on our website, or by calling 101 quoting 20/409986/23.”
A decision on the amendment to O Bar’s licence will be made within five working days.