The number of unlicensed bouncers caught working illegally in Paceville dropped by 90 per cent this year, sparking concerns they are being given “free rein”.
“I have been working here for years and I can tell you that there are loads of these ‘so-called’ bouncers working in Paceville. Everyone knows who they are and where they work,” one DJ and nightclub manager said.
Walking down the bustling St George’s Street, Paceville’s main high street, at about midnight on a busy Saturday, the manager, who asked not to be named, points to a popular nightclub.
“This place has constant trouble with bouncers roughing up people. We regularly get asked for CCTV footage to be used as evidence in investigating such cases,” he said.
The police confirmed that only two bouncers had been caught working without the necessary paperwork in Paceville in the first half of this year, a significant drop from the 20 apprehended in 2016.
You see these guys, they think they are in an action movie, beating people up, when their job is to do the opposite
The number came as a surprise to Paceville operators when contacted by this newspaper.
Anthony Carabott, a veteran bouncer and licence holder, said unauthorised bouncers were still operating and giving a bad name to the profession.
“You see these guys, they think they are in an action movie, beating people up, when their job is to do the opposite,” he pointed out.
Bouncer brutality was thrust into the spotlight last month when a number of them were caught on camera beating up two men in an apparently unprovoked attack in Paceville.
The incident, which dates back to the early hours of a Sunday morning in May, left a Syrian and Jordanian, both male and aged 29 and 33 respectively, with serious injuries and needing multiple stitches.
They were allegedly attacked after being refused entry into a nightclub.
CCTV footage posted to Facebook shows a man in a white shirt talking to a group of bouncers outside a Paceville club. Another bouncer suddenly approaches the man from behind and hits him on the back of his head.
The victim is seen turning to face his aggressor but another bouncer steps into the fray swinging his fists. The bouncers then grabbed and kicked the man who is caught with a left hook to the back of the head as he stumbles away. He then collapses on the opposite pavement.
Another man believed to be a friend of the victim appears and a bouncer is seen grabbing what appears like a glass bottle but what happens then is off camera.
Police charges have been issued against five bouncers, all Maltese nationals aged between 24 and 51, in connection with the incident.
Experience and training
Nightclub security was a free-for-all for several years, with bouncers not needing a licence or training of any kind.
Laws regulating the profession were finally introduced in 2012 after several years of promises and false starts, with bouncers required to have police, armed forces, prison or private security experience and a specialised licence following training.
However, these requirements appear to have had little effect on the way Paceville venues are controlled, with reports of violence being practically a regular occurrence.