Officials have ordered a city centre nightclub to beef up security after a man was stabbed following a row over a booth.
Vision nightclub on Whitworth Street West has now introduced a 'knife wand' metal detector following a review of its licence by Manchester City Council.
Officers were called out to the nightclub, formerly known as Playground, shortly before 1.30am last Sunday (April 2) following reports of a stabbing. A police report, provided to the council, stated that a man had been 'slashed across the face with a knife'.
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As nightclub staff rushed to the man's aid, the culprit and his friends fled the scene. Police stated that the incident followed a 'verbal dispute' between the victim and a group of males who 'were refusing to vacate' a pre-booked booth.
The report continued: "This dispute has escalated and the offender has produced a knife and slashed the victim across his face. The victim staggered a few paces away from the booth and then fell to the ground and staff went over to assist him."
GMP says the victim was taken to hospital by ambulance and required 30 stitches to close the wound, which was on his left cheek. At the time of the report's publication, work was ongoing to identify the offender and his associates.
A licensing review was requested by GMP, which had 'serious concerns as to the level of violence which occurred at the premises and by the fact the offender was able to enter the premises carrying a knife in the first place'. A hearing took place on Wednesday (April 5) with a further review to take place within 28 days.
The Manchester Evening News understands the club has been allowed to continue operating, but door staff must use a knife wand to search clubgoers on entry, and this must be visible on CCTV. It's understood the decision was taken after it was considered an appropriate number of door staff had been working on the door, while the licence has been held by the same operator since December 2012 without similar issues.
The company director of Vision, Howard Shao, told the M.E.N. the club had introduced a metal detector as part of beefed-up security at the venue.
Asked if the club was dangerous, Mr Shao replied: "We are probably one of the longest-running clubs in Manchester. We have been trading for 13 years and in that time we've never been reviewed or had such an incident before."
The incident was a 'one off'.
He said staff came to the aid of the victim and called police and the ambulance service to the club on the night of the attack.
Mr Shao continued that a review of CCTV had not established the nature of the weapon, although he said it must have been 'something sharp'. He said the injury may have been caused by a ring.
He went on that 'two males' had been involved in an argument but there was 'no build up' to the attack. The attacker 'threw a kind of punch' resulting in a cut to the victim's face, he said.
The attacker then 'ran off', he said.
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