A karaoke bar in Ashton has been shut down temporarily after a man was killed at the venue over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police launched a murder investigation following the death of of 31-year-old Shane Cullen in Blues Cabaret and Karaoke Bar at 2.40am on Saturday (July 11). The 36-year-old Carl Cooper, of Smallshaw Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne, has now been charged with murder, assault and two counts of common assault in connection with the investigation.
GMP called on Tameside council to temporarily suspend the Bow Street bar’s licence in the wake of the incident. A licensing hearing was held today (July 14) in the Tameside One council building for the town hall’s licensing panel to deliberate on the matter.
PC Craig Foley, told the panel: “There is a concern over the management of the premises and their capability to run a safe venue for members of the public to visit. Greater Manchester Police request that the licensing authority consider the suspension of the premises licence until the full review is heard before the committee.”
Bar owners Christopher Thompson and Colin Campbell were present at the hearing. They told the meeting how they had voluntarily closed their venue following the death and agreed with the police’s judgement that a temporary suspension should be imposed.
Mr Campbell said: “We and the staff are devastated by the death of Shane Cullen and our thoughts are with his family.
“We understand the police have requested to suspend the licence. We are not opposing that.
“We are already reviewing how we operated on that night so we can see how things could or should have been done differently.”
Mr Campbell went on to offer the bar’s ‘sincere condolences’ to Mr Cullen’s loved ones. PC Craig Foley commended the pair’s ‘respectful’ decision to comply with the suspension and voluntarily close down for the foreseeable.
The licensing panel, chaired by Coun Greg McNally, made the decision to temporarily suspend the licence of Blues Cabaret and Karaoke Bar until a full licence review takes place.
The next hearing will take place within 28 days following investigations from police and licensing authorities.