Security staff of a Blackwood nightclub have been suspended after video footage of a man being thrown to the floor went viral.
The incident happened outside the Flourmill, on High Street, on December 26 and a police investigation is now taking place into an alleged assault.
The video footage shows what appears to be a security staff member throwing the man’s white plastic bag onto the street. A second staff member then throws him to the floor.
According to Facebook users the man is reportedly homeless and had been inside the club before being thrown out. There are also suggestions that the man had been spitting and throwing bottles at revellers at the club beforehand.
The Flourmill posted a statement on Facebook and said all three security staff had been suspended.
It later posted a statement it said was from its security supplier, saying it was aware of the video but that it “did not show what had occurred previous to this”.
It added: “We are aware of an incident that took place at the Flourmill on December 26, and have begun an investigation into the matter.
“We are an ASC accredited company, who vet all their staff.
“We do not condone the use of physical force by any of our doorman. We have suspended the doormen involved and are willing to work with any outside agency necessary to conclude the investigation.
“Our doormen put themselves in dangerous situations on a daily basis to protect the public so they can enjoy a night out and unfortunately sometimes incidents happen.”
A spokeswoman for Gwent Police said: “We’re appealing for witnesses following an assault on a 47 year old man on High Street in Blackwood.
“The assault took place on the evening of Tuesday, December 26, 2017. Officers are currently investigating.
“If anyone witnessed the assault or has any information please call 101 quoting log 265 27/12/17 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
A third story about a crime in the observer and another article requesting information from the public, where was the police on the night, where were the CPOs to prevents this. Im sure if the police were there to deal with this, instead of these bouncers things would not have got out of control. Here we see private organstations taking on the role of the police, a role they can not do because they are not trained enough to do so. We need police on our streets not wardens not CPOs to prevent these crimes.
Also people seem to be jumping to conclusions after seeing the original clip – there is a second clip which clearly shows the male reach inside a carrier bag and appear to take out an object which he appears to hurl towards the premises / pedestrians.
I have just seen that clip, there is also rumours he was inappropriately touching women in the club. I have also seen that a crowd funding page has been set up for him, this was in the South Wales Argus people need to know the full facts
I have no idea who was to blame for this scuffle, there are hundreds of filmed incidents similar to this published worlwide on the internet every week. People seem to feed off this sort of thing these days.
What I will say is that the film shows a person being attacked by bouncers on the public highway. This is assault, pure and simple. Bouncers are there to refuse admission to those who are declared barred by management of an institution and to eject those who may endanger other customers within the premises by dint of violent behaviour or incapacity through comsumption of drink or other drugs. They are not employed to move customers from one area of the establishment to another to facilitate cleaning, nor to tell people who have just purchased a drink to “make your way to the door”, or to throw their weight around outside the pub or club.
Increasingly I see bouncers exceeding their authority, thinking a plastic armband makes them police, whilst becoming quite useless when there is real violence in the pub. There are a few good people on the doors but in general they are full of testosterone and self importance.
I agree with you, bouncers seem to think because they got one of those armbands they can do what ever they like and get away with it. I know legislation has increased but it’s still not enough to stop thugs becoming door men. Like in all job there is good and bad, but in my experience there is more bad then good out there.