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FOUNTAIN LANDLORD DEMANDS PROBE ON “HOMOPHOBIC” RAID

08-12-2007

The landlord of The Fountain in Birmingham’s gay village is calling on the Chief Constable of the West Midlands to investigate the false reports of drug dealing in his pub which led to a police raid and a review of his licence. He believes the tip off was “homophobic” and “malicious”.

The raid, in August, has damaged relations between the gay community and officers, and although Fountain boss Erick Siekierski saw off the challenge to his livelihood, the issue still rankles with his regulars – as The Stirrer’s Message Board testifies.

He’s now written, through his spokesperson Philip Rolle, to Sir Paul Scott Lee demanding a criminal inquiry into the incident saying, “The letter made allegations that drugs were being offered at the front bar of the premises, in the assenting knowledge of bar staff.

“The allegations were very obviously worded so as to encourage those reading the letter to suspect a nexus between drugs and those managing the pub. This appears to have been done in the expectation that such a suspicion might lead to closure of the pub.

“Accordingly, Mr Siekierski believes that the letter was sent with both malicious and homophobic intent.”

It also emerges that although an (un-named) MP was originally thought to have been an intermediary to the tip-off, the complaint actually went direct to the Chief Constable. The Member of Parliament was merely “copied in”.

Siekerski also wants to know how this so-called “intelligence” was graded, what other information was received, and whether Scott-Lee himself saw the lying letter.

Join the discussion on the Message Board.