A WELL-KNOWN Glasgow pub has been shut down following customer cocaine use and a litany of violent incidents including an attempted murder.
The Politician in Maryhill, directly next door to one of Glasgow's busiest police stations, was shut with immediate effect on Friday on the back of 15 months of complaints and claims that it was a threat to public safety.
In one incident, police accused staff of attempting to clear a crime scene after an incident where a man in the company of the licence holder was involved in an altercation where he was stabbed on the head and body.
In another, three customers were attacked by one man, leading to one suffering life-threatening blood spots to the brain leading to the attacker being charged with attempted murder and serious assault.
On several occasions after incidents involving drugs and violence staff were accused of failing to notify the police.
Lawyers for the licence holder, Jacqueline McLaughlan, said she felt she was being targeted by Police Scotland over concerns she was fronting the business for criminal elements, which she denied.
Members of the city's licensing board accused The Politician's management of being responsible for a "pattern of disinterest or obstruction in relation to crime and disorder and securing public safety".
During the period, Ms McLaughlan was summoned by police to 'intervention meetings' half a dozen times.
Police Scotland's complaint to the board stretches back to New Year's Day 2013, when evidence of cocaine was found in the bar's toilets.
Two further visits during that month also turned up evidence of the class- A drug.
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