The Gun Street Garden in the town centre has come under scrutiny from Thames Valley Police (TVP) after a series of incidents and drug discoveries in the club.
Police have a record of attending over 40 alleged incidents at Gun Street Garden including minor and major assaults, disorder, and underage drinking.
One of these police reports is currently under investigation after a security guard working at Gun Street Garden allegedly injured a female clubber.
Information about the case has been revealed within publicly accessible documents submitted to Reading Borough Council.
The incident allegedly occurred while staff at Gun Street Garden were hosting a ‘Sexy Santas Grotto’ night.
According to a representative of the club, the woman in question ‘became aggressive’ while inside the venue, with door staff moving to eject her.
The representative said: “During the ejection the female assaulted a door supervisor in the process of refusing to leave, despite being asked on a number of occasions.”
It was also claimed that the woman was ‘very strong’ therefore supervisors used ‘reasonable force’ to restrain her.
Problems arose with police officers as the woman was injured while the security guard was removing her from the club.
According to a police report, the security guard punched her in the face that led to her bleeding after falling to the floor.
Meanwhile, the security guard and his door supervisor colleague claimed that she repeatedly said she was going to punch them, had folded keys in between her fingers and a clenched fist, and was ‘aggressive at all times’.
Therefore they argued that the force used ‘was reasonable and proportionate’.
The alleged incident occurred on Saturday, December 2, 2023.
The representative for the owners of Gun Street Garden said that the security guard has been suspended from working at the club, but continues to have his Security Industry Authority (SIA) badge and works for other venues.
The incident prompted police officers to test the club for drug usage, with cocaine being found in the men’s toilets, and cocaine and the opiate oxycodone being found in the ladies’ toilets. The drug swabbing took place on Friday, December 22, 2023.
After that visit, TVP licensing officer Declan Smyth applied for the licence of the club to be reviewed by Reading Borough Council.
A hearing of its licensing applications sub-committee was held to conduct the review on Thursday, February 15. At the time, councillors chose to suspend the licence for two months meaning activities at Gun Street Garden will cease for that period.
The decision was made by councillors Paul Woodward (Labour, Church), Deborah Edwards (Labour, Southcote) and Tony Page (Labour, Abbey).