Judge refuses to restore licence to club where security was linked to INLA

A night-club whose security staff were at one point controlled by a murdered INLA drug-dealer, Nicky O'Hare, failed yesterday…

A night-club whose security staff were at one point controlled by a murdered INLA drug-dealer, Nicky O'Hare, failed yesterday to have its licence restored.

Some of the evidence from gardai had been "shocking", Judge Desmond Windle said.

Nite Owls in Ranelagh, Dublin, closed on St Stephen's Day last year following several violent incidents, two of which, the court heard, involved the ears of two people being bitten off. There were also attacks on gardai by patrons, attacks by security staff on patrons and drug-dealing.

Yesterday its owner, Mr Desmond Wootton, sought to have the music and dancing licences renewed so that the club, "revamped" at a cost of around £1.5 million, could reopen.

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Judge Windle ruled that he had "no hesitation" in refusing the application and said he had a suspicion that Mr Wootton was "a front for someone else and has been for some time".

Mr Wootton told Dublin District Court he had no idea that INLA people were working as bouncers for him. He admitted he paid for the services of security men on Sunday nights by giving a cheque to Nicky O'Hare, who was shot dead in a Dundalk street a few weeks ago.

As soon as he found out about them, he got rid of them, giving Mr O'Hare an additional week's pay at a meeting near Swords.

He claimed he had great difficulty getting security people during 1999 and went through five or six firms before he closed.

Gardai claimed Mr Wootton had failed to respond to numerous warnings to deal with the problems. In an operation by the drugs squad last November, 56 officers raided the premises and found 70 ecstasy tablets, including 50 in the male toilets and 10 in the cloakroom. Four people were later charged with supplying drugs.

In August a bouncer had part of his ear bitten off during a row inside the club which later spilled out into the street.

In November a man who intervened when his wife was being harassed by another customer also had his ear bitten off.

Matters came to a head in November when Chief Supt Bill Donoghue met Mr Wootton and told him of Garda concerns that his bouncers were members of the INLA and "under the control" of Nicky O'Hare.

Mr Wootton was served with notices requiring him to put his house in order or face closure for five years. He closed a month later.