Assault by bouncers - Suing the club

[pricey1976]

Hi,

Last saturday I tried to split a fight up outside a club between a friend and another guy. The fight ended and one of the guys was walking away. All of a suden 3 bouncers apeared out of nowhere and jumped on the my friend pinning him to the floor, they were on top of him for about a minute and he started to choke (Turned out that they broke 3 of his ribs). I started talking to one of the bouncers and said to him if he got off my mate i'd talk to him, calm him down and we could be on our way......big mistake.

The bouncer jumped off him and started going nuts and having a go at me for telling him how to do his job, I was totally calm and even put my hands behind my back to show I wasn't a threat....mistake no.2!

The bouncer grabbed me by the throat and threw me into some wheelie bins, i was pretty dazed but stood back up....that would be mistake number 3 then.

The bouncer then rugby tackeled me to the floor, I fell and broke my arm.

I went straight to the police and reported it, they still haven't taken a statement yet but they have assigned an officer to the case and I expect a visit in the next day or so.

Anyway i've been looking into applying for Criminal Injuries Compensation and have a couple of questions...

1. DO you need asoliciter to aplly for CIC? By the looks of it you are able to do it alone, is this advisable.....I don't realy want to give my hard earned cash to a soliciter if I don't have to.

2. If I do apply for CIC then am I still able to sue the nightclub? and if I do intend suing the club do I need to wait until after before claiming CIC?

Any advice would be welcome.

Also what do you think the chances are of the bouncers being procecuted?

[Barmaid]

Personally I would go down the civil route. You could get a solicitor who would act on a no win no fee. The advantage of the civil route is that the amount you will receive is likely to be higher than anything the CICB or the courts are likely to award. The club should have public liability insurance and they will pick up the tab. Even if there is no successful prosecution, you can still go down this route.

I am amazed that the police have not yet been in touch. I would pop back to the area and see if there is any CCTV and tell the police. It's amazing how quickly they re-use the tapes and valuable evidence is lost. Do you have any witnesses? Bear in mind the 3 bouncers will very likely tell the same story, so without witnesses it is going to be difficult to prove. however, the fact that you have sustained a broken arm should show that they were not using "reasonable force". I'd say the most likely charge is ABH.

[pricey1976]

Hi thanks for your answers.
I have two witness's, one was a little drunk but still remembers me being thrown to the floor, the second doesn't drink and saw everything. I have been back to the scene and there is CCTV in the area and i'm currently applying to see the footage. Also I work withy someone who witnessed a similar attack two weeks previous to mine and he's also willing to act as a witness to that. So I feel I have a very strong case which makes the fact the police haven't done anything very frustrating, I'm going to go to the police station in the morning to make a complaint.

[Andy008]

Can't really offer you any advice in the legal sense, but I am a licenced doorman myself and it certainly does sound like the doormen you refer to used excessive force.

They are well in breach of SIA guidelines if indeed they did act as you say, but I would certainly take Ward Minters advice and leave investigations to the police.

I have in the course of the job been involved in some serious fights this year but certainly nothing whereby multiple fractures were sustained by two customers.

[pricey1976]

Yeah I went back to the police today and it sounds like they are finally taking it seriously so i'm going to leave it to them.

As a doorman are you advised as to how far away from the club you can get involved in fights? The incident that led to my injury happened aprox 150meters away from the door of the club,don't think i've ever seen a doorman stray away from the doors before.

[Andy008]

No professional doorman would ever go beyond the immediate confines of the venue. If indeed they did move 150 metres away then they have no credible reason for getting involved in any conflict. Whilst on duty a doorman's remit is the protection of the licence and the management and safety of everybody in the venue.

If you are telling the truth (I assume you are, I've never met you) then the two that you describe deserve to have their licences taken away and to be prosecuted with the full force of the law.

The security industry is trying to move away from the old-school image of the 80's and 90's and people like this only make things much more difficult.

I would still just follow proper lines and co-operate with the police to that effect.

[pricey1976]

Finally got a call from a police officer arranging to take a statement at 19:30 last night, she said she'd call if she couldn't make it for any reason........guess what, she didn't show. It's now been 10 days without the police even taking a statement, I know they are busy but what annoys me is that in last weeks local paper there were storys where police were asking for information on a stolen bike and damage to a fence. Both of which happened after my assault.....grrrrrr!!!!!

[leslieby]

Along with those other point, ask the club for proof that the staff have SIA licenses.

[queenie06]

I was assualted in 2006 badly injured as well as cctv of 2 doormen throwing partner infront of a oncoming car, I have been fighting police for justice and taken civil root also now have cctv after 3 years it is nearing disclosure to local press as police have purposely avoided proscution if you want any advice please do not hestitate to post reply may even be same area

[Stiggs77]

Hi, I am also in a similar situation. I was in a club recently, drinking bottles of beer. A bottle i purchased contained tap water and not beer! I hadnt left the bar, told the barman it wasnt beer and asked for it to be changed, he refused and also refused to taste it for verification. I was basically arguing with him to change my drink or refund my money which he still refused, probably as he was the one fiddling the drinks! Next thing 2 bouncers grab me totally uneccessarily, yanked my arms up my back and threw me down the stairs resulting in a head injury, lots of bruises and my arm in a sling. When i exited the frontdoor another bouncer dragged me back in to the club, pushed me to the floor. I called the police, the police sent an ambulance and they have it on cctv. The 3 bouncers have been arrested for ABH. Do i sue the bouncers or the club?