Host stole from club

A Suffolk landlord stole more than £2,500 from his customers' Christmas club, a court heard.

Andrew Rolf, 41, of Ricking-hall, formerly of the Woolpack, Debenham, admitted theft charges when he appeared before Sudbury magistrates.

The court heard how he had persuaded his regulars to put hundreds of pounds into the club but then used the money to bolster his failing business.

The prosecution described how Rolf, who ran the pub with his wife, Julie, had set up the Christmas club to help customers save after taking over the Woolpack on behalf of Public Inns Partnership.

The prosecutor said: "He acted dishonestly by using the cash to bolster the business."

Public Inns spokeswoman Joyce Jones said: "We were horrified when this first happened and now we are angry that a lovely pub like the Woolpack was used as a base for this type of appalling behaviour.

"We had no idea what was going on and we asked him to leave as soon as we found out.

The new couple are upstanding members of the community and the regulars have now regained their confidence in the Woolpack."

Sentencing was adjourned for pre-sentence reports, but Rolf was warned he could face jail.

Couple hurt in pub raid

A landlord and his wife fought off two armed robbers who targeted their pub.

The manager of the Great Western Pub in Didcot, Oxon, suffered a head injury after he was hit with a gun by one of the raiders.

His wife was injured in the arm as she wrestled with a second attacker who was armed with a knife.

A canister of CS gas was discharged during the struggle, and police hope it may help them track the raiders.

Didcot CID have this week released details of the attack, which happened on 6 May, in the hope it will bring forward witnesses.

Passing off crackdown Whisky drinkers in Scotland are being swindled out of up to £4m a year by landlords substituting cheaper spirits for Scotch blends and malts, research by the International Federation of Spirits Producers says.

The federation believes one in 10 landlords in Scotland regularly refills bottles with cheaper spirits, while one in six has engaged in the fraud occasionally.

The federation wants bigger fines for licensees found to be replacing branded spirits with cheaper products.

Rogues pics offensive A "rogues gallery", featuring pictures of convicted violent offenders and troublemakers, is to be given to landlords and club doorstaff in Coventry in a bid to reduce late-night disorder.

Police will supply photos of people, who have been excluded from licensed premises or are subject to banning orders, to 60 licensees who belong to the city's Pubwatch.

The city's scheme is one of the largest in the country and has links to a central CCTV room via a two-way radio link, allowing information about troublemakers to be passed on to licensees and police.

Pictures of offenders will be collected and destroyed at the end of their ban.

Licensees in other pubs will be told by radio if a "rogue" has been thrown out of a pub and it will then be possible to track their movements through a central CCTV system.

Mystery gas attacks Police are appealing for information after two bars were hit by mystery gas attacks.

Six people needed medical treatment after being crushed in the panic after drinkers surged towards the exits of Bar 38 and the Candy Bar in George Street, Edinburgh.

A woman was taken to hospital suffering from the effects of the unidentified gas as well as crush injuries.

The chemical was released in Bar 38, owned by Scottish and Newcastle, and then minutes later in the Candy Bar, which is just across the road.

There were around 350 people in both bars at the time, and they were all evacuated in minutes.

Police said they still did not know what kind of gas it was as they had found no canisters on the premises.

They have appealed for information about the incident, which happened on 3 May.