Pubwatch bans back in High Court

The legality of Pubwatch bans face further examination as a second legal challenge got underway in the High Court today.

Drinker Francis James Boyle, of 15, Elm Close, Haverhill, was banned from pubs in the area by Haverhill Pubwatch following an incident at the Black Horse pub on 16 December 2005, in which Boyle was said to have been attacked by another man.

Both were then made subject of year-long banning orders from Haverhill Pubwatch pubs. Boyle's ban was extended by two years as he continued going to pubs or trying to go to pubs.

Boyle, who remains banned from local pubs until Valentine's Day 2010, claims that he has been denied a fair hearing in breach of his human rights by the failure to provide him with details of the case against him or to provide an oral hearing.

He is asking judge Mr Justice Mackie to make a landmark ruling that Pubwatch associations are public bodies whose decisions can be subject to judicial review by the High Court.

Last year the High Court ruled that student Matthew Proud could not seek a judicial review of his ban by Buckingham Pubwatch.

The Court of Appeal also threw out the case, ruling that pubwatch is not a public body and therefore a judicial review could not be sought.

The judge will also hear representations from the police and JD Wetherspoon.