Beats on the Beach at Pembroke on Saturday.
MUCH of the trouble at Beats on the Beach on Saturday night could have been avoided if the police had not shut it down, according to Matt Greening, one of the organisers.
He believed the decision to close down the event at the Mirage, Pembroke, attended by 600 people led to more problems than if it had been allowed to carry on without the required licence.
‘A lot of the trouble seemed to kick off after it was shut down. You can imagine what it’s like with drunken people and in total darkness. I can’t be sure, but there might have been less trouble if they had let the event carry on,’ he said.
However, Mr Greening did admit that the licence was something about which he and the other organisers had been mistaken.
‘We phoned the police a couple of times and they told us it would be no problem, but it would probably have been sorted out if we had written to them instead,’ he said.
Fellow organiser James Turner agreed that the police had overreacted.
‘They [the police] said that there was under-age drinking, even though it was happening on the golf course. You wouldn’t shut down Rogues just because people were drinking illegally at the taxi rank.
‘Before the police shut it down, there was only one fight during the whole day. After they came, there were four or five straight away along the road,’ he said.
Despite the way the evening ended, Mr Turner said the next Street Academy event was already being planned and that the intention was to work with the police.
‘Next time, we want to work with the police to set up the event and get it sorted out properly. We will come back bigger and better,’ he said.
* In connection with the event, police are currently investigating an assault, two acts of disorderly behaviour and an assault on a police officer. One person received a head injury from a bottle. All those arrested have been released on police bail.
Article posted on 22nd July, 2008 - 2.29pm
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