Man slashed with knife in Warwick pub during a manic weekend of alcohol-fuelled violence

A man was slashed with a knife in a Warwick pub over the weekend.

Police have arrested a man in connection with the attack on Sunday night - and for drink driving.

Police have not said which pub the attack happened, but said it was in Market Place.

Officers said a 28-year-old man from Solihull was arrested on suspicion of assault and drink driving after officers stopped a car a short time later. He was later bailed while enquiries continue.

This was just one of many incidents in the county over the weekend - a weekend that police described as “busier than New Year”.

With the sunshine and relaxation in Covid rules, many of the incidents involved people drinking too much.

Call handlers answered 2,540 calls between Friday and Sunday, 868 of which were 999 calls. The 263 999 calls received on Saturday was the most the force has received in a single day for more than three years.

The custody block was busy as well with 49 people arrested over the weekend (between 5pm on Friday June 11 and 9am yesterday (Monday June 14)). Twenty-eight of these were for violent offences – 15 of which were domestic. Two people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting police officers.

Twenty-five people were in custody on suspicion of committing alcohol-related offences. This included seven people in connection with domestic incidents, five on suspicion of other violent incidents, eight on suspicion of drink driving and two on suspicion of assaulting police officers.

In terms of other local offences, police dealt with the following:

• A 62-year-old man from Warwick was arrested following a report of a man being assaulted with a baseball bat at a pub in Lapworth in the early hours of Sunday morning. The man was arrested on suspicion of assault and drink driving after officers stopped a car a short time later. He was later bailed while enquiries continue.

• An officer was allegedly spat at after he responded to a report of criminal damage at a property in Sandy Way, Barford on Sunday night. A 16-year-old girl from Barford was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and criminal damage.

• Three men arrested on suspicion of assault following a report of a fight in Mason Avenue, Leamington on Friday night. All three were later bailed while enquiries continue.

• A 34-year-old man arrested on suspicion of drink driving after a motorcyclist was seriously injured in a collision on White Hart Lane, Ufton on Saturday evening (as we reported yesterday). He was later released under investigation while enquiries continue.

Assistant Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith said: “It was an extremely busy weekend for officers, busier than we would expect to see over New Year. The one common factor in many of the offences we responded to was alcohol. We continually urge people to drink responsibly and know their limits but too many times people don’t heed this advice and find themselves in trouble.

“Later this week the force will be launching its summer safety campaign promoting advice to help people stay safe and act responsibly when they are out over the next few months.

“We understand people want to go out and enjoy the good weather and make the most of the recently relaxed restrictions, but we will take a zero tolerance approach to violence and aggression.”