Landlord in drugs arrest at Heswall problem pub



THE LANDLORD of a problem pub in Merseyside was arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs after a police search.

David Earnshaw was arrested by police on December 30 after they found what is believed to be evidence of cannabis and cocaine inside Milner’s pub, in Heswall.

Mr Earnshaw, the 24-year-old landlord, agreed to let officers to search his premises after they arrived to investigate reports of a fight between a doorman and a drinker on December 27 and noticed a smell of cannabis.

Earnshaw was later arrested, questioned and bailed over the matter.

No charges were brought against him and the police investigation continues.

The 24-year-old was hauled before Wirral council’s licensing committee last year as police moved to try to shut the Milner Road venue down.

On September 8, councillors heard police and neighbours living in the otherwise quiet residential street accuse the landlord of running a pub which was a magnet for under- age drinkers and yobs who urinated outside.

Councillors agreed to allow Milner’s to remain open on the condition a new manager was brought in to make sure bouncers were put on the doors, no more 18th birthday parties were held and trading hours were reduced.

Mr Earnshaw is appealing against that decision and so, pending another council hearing on February 1, the pub was able to open at 11am on New Year’s Eve, with noisy punters heard causing a disturbance after 3am on January 1.


Until a decision is made on the pub and Mr Earnshaw’s future there, he is entitled to continue to run Milner’s as the landlord.

But despite the ongoing licensing battle, neighbours said Christmas and New Year’s Eve saw noisy revellers return.

Merseyside police confirmed they had received a number of complaints about noise and anti-social behaviour connected to the property over the festive period.

They are now investigating whether licensing conditions were breached.

In what a police spokesperson described as “a flurry of complaints”, neighbours called repeatedly between December 29 and January 1 to report rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour as drinkers left the pub.

He added officers on patrol were flagged down by a taxi driver at 2.50am on January 1, who told them he had witnessed a man being kicked on the ground outside Milner’s, although on arrival they could find no evidence.

A spokesperson for brewery Enterprise Inns said: “We are currently working with the police, a residential association and the licensee to try to find a suitable solution.”

THE WIRRAL NEWS

Good on the lad, I hope he keeps his licence, stuck up neighbours should do one! What's wrong? Oh sorry, he's only 24, you jealous stuck up *******

Still be the same with anyone else running it, you can't control what goes on outside the premises!

Good luck to ya lad screw the neighbours, they're just assholes!

It's alright so long as you are not the one living opposite the place. Licensees are supposed to be fit and proper persons, or at least they used to be. Age and that doesn't come into it but if he can't manage it properly then he shouldn't be doing it. The assholes are the ones who can't have a drink without causing mayhem.

Personally I think his personal licence should be revoked! Easy to say he's being victimised as he's only 24 but thats rubbish! I hold the personal licence and if you mis-run a pub your digging your own grave! I remember I went to do some work on the pub the week before they opened and they were getting the place ready and just from that short visit I could tell there was going to be trouble! The attitude of the young landlord at that time was less than savoury to say the least! He was way to up himself as most young men who'd just been given a pub would be, and he was preparing to run it as a social club for all his mates. I did make him a offer of supplying some high quality doorman but he just fobbed it off like "why would he need any help from any person else"
Personally I think he's engineering his own downfall and the council should throw the book at him!

So speaks the reasoned voice of wisdom.

Indeed indeed!

was just going to say the same thing Summer.

.

In the story above i was the taxi driver who flagged the police down.

Anyone with even ONE brain cell knows the place is trouble, a magnet for every low life trouble maker, and without doubt that is down to the landlord.

its his gaffe, his rules, he accepts what goes on and what doesnt.

The place needs EITHER closing down or a new, experienced older manager in there.

A CONTROVERSIAL pub landlord was arrested while already on bail for suspected drugs offences.

David Earnshaw, the manager of Milner’s pub in Milner Road, Heswall, was arrested on Tuesday morning after police officers arrived at the Wirral pub to reports he was drunkenly smashing windows at the premises in an attempt to get in.

Neighbours alerted the police to the incident at 3.25am.

When patrols arrived, Mr Earnshaw explained he was the manager of the pub but had lost his keys and had valid grounds to attempt to gain entry.

The problem pub has a chequered recent history, with repeated complaints by neighbours of noise and disorder, so officers searched the premises.

Mr Earnshaw was then arrested on suspicion of possesion of class A drugs, but since then the matter has been dropped.

A spokesman for Merseyside police said: “A 24-year-old man was arrested after police were called to Milner Road in the early hours of Tuesday morning.”

He added: “The man was taken into custody and interviewed and later released without charge.”

At the time of the arrest, the 24-year-old landlord was on bail following an earlier arrest for possession of suspected cannabis and cocaine after a police search of the pub on December 27.
Mr Earnshaw is set to find out if charges will be brought against him in that matter when he answers police bail on February 10.

Meanwhile, he is preparing for an appeal hearing before Wirral council after councillors clamped down on Milner’s with a string of stringent new license conditions last year.

They included stipulating a new manager must be brought in to run the pub and rules stating bouncers were to be put on the doors, no more 18th birthday parties were to be held and trading hours reduced.

At the hearing, Sergeant Graham Parker, of Heswall neighbourhood police team, told councillors the pub had become the number one policing priority in the affluent town.

He said: “Generally this area is causing me a problem.

“We cannot police Heswall because we have to police the area surrounding the premises.”

Neighbour Maureen Goulding said when she raised concerns about drinkers using the car park and her garden as a toilet to Mr Earnshaw, they fell on deaf ears.

She told the committee: “It was 7am when I woken by a group of six lads on the roof of the terrace shouting.

“One of them was clearly David Earnshaw, with his trousers around his ankles – which I found unacceptable.”

But Mr Earnshaw lodged an appeal and, until this is heard on February 1, he is legally able to continue to run the pub as landlord.
http://www.wirralnews.co.uk/page.cfm?objectid=27989016&method=full&siteid=100252

Wasn't this called 'The Slak' at some point? Is this the same place?

Yes, Mr Earnshaw was banned from running the pub last Spetember.

How is he back running it then?

I picked up my 18 yr old brother from there one evening before Christmas. The place is a mess. No word of a lie, there were 15 year olds in there, buying drinks, not being ID'd.

They were clearly underage too.

There was some trouble outside, fighting etc and there WAS drugs being smoked.

He's well known as being a shit landlord and age has nothing to do with it and it's certainly not jealousy - his Dad did buy him the place though.

I've been once and I was with a lad who knew the landlord. He seemed alright but I did have my doubts about his integrety.