HELL’S BELLS
Cops raid Hogmanay party in city bar
FOOTAGE has emerged of a Hogmanay pub bust-up as police swooped on drinkers minutes before the Bells.
Several officers are seen arresting a man and a woman who were both put on the ground and handcuffed.
Cops tried to get partygoers at the Avant Garde Music Bar & Restaurant in Glasgow’s King Street to leave after they went into the premises at 11.30pm.
Revellers, who claimed many pubgoers were up to the age of 75, condemned the police tactics and on social media it was alleged officers had attended the venue “because someone dared to dance”.
At the start of the eightminute clip, which has appeared on Twitter and
YouTube, a female officer is seen approaching a table of older drinkers and repeatedly telling them, “The pub is shut now”, and they had been “asked to leave”.
The officer starts lifting drinks and taking them away.
After talking to colleagues, the cop returns to the table with a male officer and they take a man’s drink from his hand and lift him to his feet.
Other drinkers can be heard booing and shouting, “Shame, shame”.
The male officer says if they “refuse to leave a licensed premises after being asked by police they will be arrested”.
Behind them, another unmasked drinker goes facetry to-face with a masked male officer, who tells him: “You’ll be arrested if you touch me again.”
The man continues to talk in the officer’s face, saying: “You won’t tell me how to behave.”
Another officer tells the drinker: “You’re squaring up to one of my officers.” Police to lead the man by the arm but he pushes back. He is then wrestled roughly to the ground by an officer while a number of his colleagues help put on handcuffs.
A drinker is heard saying: “Six polis to one man.”
A woman claiming to be the arrested man’s friend grabs some belongings but refuses to leave when a female officer tried to escort her. The woman is seen pulling back and a pair of officers subdue her as she struggles on the floor. The video later cuts to the arrested man being taken to a police vehicle. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers carried out a routine visit at a licensed premises on King Street, Glasgow at about 11.30pm on December 31. No arrests were made in relation to Covid guidelines.
“The 63-year-old licence holder refused to provide officers with relevant licence documentation or assist with any other requests and was charged in relation to this and obstructing police officers. This resulted in people being asked to leave the property.
“A 60-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman were arrested for physically assaulting and being verbally abusive to police officers and licensing offences. Inquiries into the incident remain ongoing.”