Nightclub bosses keep licence ahead of James Arthur gig

The bosses of an Inverness nightclub - who had been arrested by police in two different incidents - have avoided losing their licence, days before "The X-Factor" winner appears at their venue.

George MacLeod, manager of Miami, was fined for breach of the peace while his business partner Amit Patni, who helps run the High Street venue, was fined after assaulting a customer.

Miami hosts singer James Arthur, who won the ITV televsion show earlier this month, on Saturday (22.12).

The businessmen appeared before the Highland Licensing Board today (18.12) and admitted they had been "out of order".

Northern Constabulary had asked that their licences to serve alcohol be reviewed. They could have lost their licence or had it suspended after the two incidents but were issued with a written warning after councillors heard about their regret over their behaviour.

Neither man would comment after the hearing.

Mr Patni was charged in May with assault after seizing a customer by his neck and slapping him in the face before throwing him out of the club.

Mr MacLeod was arrested for breach of the peace after sheriff officers, a locksmith and police attempted to execute a warrant under the Bankruptcy and Diligence Act on 9th July.

He adopted a "hostile" attitude and threatened to have officers sacked and was given a fixed penalty fine.

Their solicitor Lorna Murray told the board Mr Patni’s alternation with a customer came about after he had been racially abused but Ms Murray said her client had only grabbed the victim by the neck.

She said that the July incident had upset both men who discovered the sheriff’s officers in their office counting their "hard earned" cash from a safe and claimed they were unaware there was a court writ issued against them.

"The matter is now fully resolved," said Ms Murray. "It is a matter of some regret that they find themselves before the board. Both fully accept their behaviour was out of order."

Ms Murray said Mr Patni had supplied the police with CCTV footage of his altercation with the customer which had backed up his story.

She said her client had accepted the abuse from the customer as "the nature of the beast" that licensees often encountered but getting involved had been an error of judgement.

The incident was reported to the procurator fiscal who chose to issue a fine and not call the case to court.

Mr MacLeod was given an anti-social behaviour fixed penalty fine by police after what was described as "his tirade" towards the locksmith.

Both men have paid their fines which do not count as convictions but are logged in the national criminal history system.

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