Bar ‘controlled by drug dealer’ has its licence taken away
VENUE WHERE NEW YEAR’S STABBING TOOK PLACE IS CLOSED ‘FOR PUBLIC PROTECTION’
A BAR which police claimed was controlled by a convicted drug dealer has had its licence revoked.
In February, the licence of the Alt House in Moss Lane, Whitefield, was suspended, and the premises closed for ‘public protection.’
Now Bury’s licensing panel has revoked it completely after a request by GMP.
The bar was the scene of a violent attack on New Year’s Eve. The victim was Daniel Warrender, who was stabbed several times and suffered a punctured lung and kidney.
A report to the licensing panel says police believe it was a targeted attack triggered by the fact that his brother, David Warrender, is in control of the bar.
The document says the sole director of Alt House Limited is in reality no longer in control of the premises.
It adds: “The person in control is David Warrender, who has previous convictions for dealing class B drugs and money laundering. He is the subject of an outstanding confiscation order in relation to previous convictions, where he benefited financially from his involvement in serious crime.”
The report adds that as well as the stabbing, there was an arson attack in October 2016. Four masked men smashed windows at the premises and poured petrol into the bar area, before setting it alight. By luck, it did not ignite properly.
The report says GMP has received information that retribution would be sought for the stabbing incident.
A man associated with men who have been charged in connection with the December incident has been attacked by an unknown male with a machete at his home address in front of a child.
GMP requested the licence be revoked as they had intelligence to suggest ‘the dispute is on-going..and as a result there is a risk attached to the Alt House by virtue of Warrender’s connection to the premises. There are concerns for the safety of those that frequent the bar.’
David Warrender, then of Mainway, Middleton, was jailed for 18 months in 2014 for conspiracy to supply amphetamines. He was convicted after police caught a young entrepreneur allowing gangsters to turn his premises into a £2.5m drugs factory.
Blaine McKenna, formerly of Farmway, Middleton, became a company director at the age of just 24, when he set up storage company Failsworth Storage Solutions. But, after developing a cocaine habit and getting into debt, he became involved in a plot to sell amphetamines across the region.
During an investigation into McKenna, who was jailed for threeand-a-half years, police saw him collect drugs from David Warrender.
The Alt House licence declined to comment. holder