Serious assaults on pub workers should always result in the attacker being prosecuted in court, the government has said.

 

The pledge was made in response to a petition on the Prime Minister’s Number 10 website regarding the Court Not Caution campaign.

 

The campaign, being run by National Pubwatch, aims to ensure people that attack licensees and barstaff are properly dealt with by the authorities.

 

Now the government has responded to the campaign after more than 800 people signed the petition on the Number 10 website.

 

The response said: “The government appreciates that retailers and their staff have experienced problems whilst upholding their licensing responsibilities.

 

“It is clear that assaults on staff working in licensed premises cannot be tolerated, and serious assaults should always result in an offender being prosecuted at court.”

 

It said the government takes the issue of attacks on barstaff “extremely seriously” and Home Office officials have met with members of the campaign to discuss the problem.

 

But the government denied that people were getting off scott-free by just getting a caution for an attack.

 

The statement added: “Issuing an offender with a simple caution does not mean that they are getting off without a penalty. The caution forms part of their criminal record and may influence how they are dealt with should they come to the notice of the police again.”