Landlord Quits Huntingdon Pub During Licensing Hearing

The landlord of the Golden Knight pub quit half way through the hearing which was looking into allegations of drugs and general disorder at the pub. The Huntingdonshire District Council's licensing sub-committee were told of drug-dealing and series of complaints about the premises.

Ricky Newton quit as the landlord, mid hearing after the sub-committee said they did not think proposals for improving the pub went far enough. The Golden Knight is operated by Admiral Taverns and they have said that Mr Newton will be leaving the pub with 28 days and that a new landlord would be in place before he departs.

Mr Newton told the committee that he has never been involved in drug-dealing and that he has been naïve.

Police had previously a line of cocaine and cannabis when they raided the Golden Knight in Huntingdon, as well as an illegal pepper spray.

Police had asked for a review of the pub's licence by the committee because of concerns over the running of the pub, about drugs being dealt at the pub and finding cocaine, cannabis, the prohibited pepper spray and other incidents at the site

The committee tightened conditions of the pub's licence, including CCTV, incident records and being part of Pubwatch.

Photo: greencolander