17/09/2026
A further statement from Bar 61
Following the comments and questions on our previous statement, we would like to clarify a few points before we make no further comment on the incident.
The individual involved had been drinking in a number of other pubs along the High Street that evening before arriving at Bar 61. As far as we are aware, they had not been searched at any of those venues. Unfortunately, this incident could have happened at any of the venues visited that night. Sadly, it happened in ours.
Bar 61 takes security extremely seriously. We have professional door staff working at the venue and actually go above and beyond what is required of us under our current licensing conditions in terms of the security we provide. We also routinely carry out searches and, to our knowledge, are the only venue in town that does so.
Unfortunately, on this occasion an item got through those measures. We’re not hiding from that and we’re certainly not making excuses for it. No security procedure can ever be completely foolproof, but we will obviously review what happened and see whether there is anything further we can reasonably put in place.
We would also like to clear up some of the speculation regarding the person who was injured. Thankfully, their injuries were minor and not serious. Our staff immediately provided first aid and called an ambulance. At the time, the individual actually needed some encouragement from our staff to attend hospital. They were released from hospital the same day and were out at a local pub later that evening, where they themselves posted a photograph of their minor injury.
That does not take away from the seriousness of somebody bringing a weapon into a licensed premises, and we are extremely thankful that the outcome wasn’t considerably worse.
We have tried to be open and transparent about what happened. The safety of our customers and staff remains extremely important to us and we will continue to work with the relevant authorities.
As the matter is now being dealt with by the appropriate authorities, Bar 61 will not be commenting any further on the incident.
Bar 61 Management
