Keble student bottled in Park End
A Keble graduate was violently assaulted in a Student’s Union club night in Park End on Wednesday night. Richard Craig, a law graduate from Keble who is now studying at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice, was out with three friends when he was attacked. He said that he was “quite unclear as to what happened - I was drunk and obviously then in shock, so it’s hard to recall. “I remember a bit of pushing and shoving on the crowded dancefloor.
There was a bit of confrontation and swearing, and then I was bottled.” Craig immediately went to hospital, where he spent three hours in the Accident and Emergency department, and received eight stitches. He praised the first aid help he received at the club and added: “Lots of people were extremely concerned, but it’s not going to stop me going out or anything.
He said that his major concern was his legal practice exam on Monday morning, as “over the weekend [he] couldn’t really work.” One man was arrested on the night on suspicion of causing greivous bodily harm after being identified by one of Craig’s companions, but he was released the next morning wihout charge. A spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police said she did not believe that the force had any other leads on the case.
Claire Desilva, a press officer at Park End, commented: “We treat all incidents of this nature extremely seriously and are doing everything we can to ensure that only those students with correct ID are admitted. We believe the representative from Oxford University Student Union admitted a number of non-students to the venue. Our CCTV evidence will be further investigated and we will step up ID checks as a result with our own experienced staff.
OUSU Entz Manager Madhvi Pankhania told The Oxford Student: “Zoo is taking events into consideration. Our studentsonly policies on the door are very strict already, and in the past there have been no problems.”
27th Oct 2005