Concrete issue 077 15 10 1997

Page 1

By MATTHEW RAY and GRAHAM DIGGINES

A STUDENT was left battered following a fight which broke out in the Union bar on Saturday. Violence erupted shortly after 8pm as 600 people crammed into the bar to watch the crucial World Cup qualifying football match between England and Italy. The trouble flared up as chemistry student, Martyn Cole, tried to stop a local man from throwing a chair at the mass of football fans. 'This guy walked back and picked up a chair and was getting ready to throw it across the bar," said Martyn.

Vicious As he attempted to protect fellow tudents, Martyn suffered a vicious attack from the yob who gave him a bloody nose. " I grabbed the chair and calmed the situation down a bit, then he hit me in the face," he aid. Martyn left the bar to stem the flow of blood from his face. He was taken to UEA's Health Centre with a suspected broken nose, where he received further treatment. The local man, who has not been named, had been drinking in the bar with friends from early on Saturday afternoon. As the match began, the group tried to intimidate students by standing in front of the TV screen and chanting insults. Said President of UEA's Football Supporters Club, Peter Russell, "We asked one of them to sit down so that we could see

the match, but he told us that if we did not want to go to hospital then we should shut up." Union Entertainments Manager, ick Rayn , spotted the troublemakers as he walked past the bar. "When I went past the Pub at 4pm, I saw a group of local lads in the bar and I did not want a larger group of local lads in there," he said. "In consultation with the Bars Manager, we decided to get people coming into the pub to show UEA registration card ." However, despite the student-only door policy, the local louts were not thrown out of the pub until the fight kicked off.

Friction Said Mr Rayns, "Seven local lads were evicted from the pub after friction with a student." He defended the door staff' actions, saying, "From 4pm there were two security men on the door and by 6pm there were two more." And he added, 'They are linked by radio and that is why four door staff came down stairs to the Pub." Nevertheless, students were surprised that continued on page 2


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