A woman charged with the racially aggravated assault of a pub doorman on Birmingham’s ‘golden mile’ has been banned from all the entertainment area’s licensed premises.
Pubwatch in the Westside area of the city made the decision at its meeting yesterday (3 August) to bar Sharna Walker, 25, from all its pubs, bars and clubs for 12 months with immediate effect.
Her details will now be circulated to all 100-plus licensed venues on Westside to ensure they can easily operate the ban.
Ms Walker, from Worcester, was charged by West Midlands Police last month with racially aggravated common assault following an incident outside The Figure of Eight, on Broad Street, on 22 May.
She was also charged with assault, criminal damage and a public order offence.
The charges relate to an incident involving a woman and a doorman which was captured on video and later uploaded onto social media where it was viewed millions of times.
Ms Walker was due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court yesterday (3 August), but the case has been deferred until 29 September.
Matthew Symes, chairman of Pubwatch Westside, said they had voted on the ban after their latest meeting was presented with a report on the incident from an experienced and independent consultant at the Retail Crime Operation.
He said: “This decision is regardless of the police and criminal court process. We have a zero tolerance approach to racist abuse and damage to premises. Such bad behaviour is unbefitting of what we expect from people who visit the Westside area.”
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside Business Improvement District, added: “This is the right decision for Westside to take and sends the clear message out to the public at large that we will never tolerate racists in our city.”
The Pubwatch ban follows earlier action by J D Wetherspoon, which runs the The Figure of Eight pub where the incident happened, which said back in May that Ms Walker would be banned from all its city centre premises.
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