The Garage has been shut down after double stabbing

Police shut down The Garage  in the Baltic triangle yesterday after the incident, which took place  in the early hours of Monday morning. The license for the music venue on Greenland Street was suspended pending a full hearing.

Police were apparently ‘unhappy’ that they were only alerted to the incident by hospital staff treating the victims, three hours after the incident occurred.

The management of The Garage claim that the director of the nightclub drove the two injured men, aged 20 and 21, to the hospital himself, before returning to the venue to call 999.  The 21 year old suffered a stab wound to the leg, while the 20 year old had a superficial slash wound from a blade. Both have now been discharged from hospital.

The Garage was using a metal arch at the entrance of the venue in an attempt to stop  weapons being taken inside, but women were apparently not checked on the night.

Karl Barry, a representative of The Garage, told licensing councillors that he believed the blade was smuggled in by a female.

The interior of The Garage

Mr Barry also said that the promoter for the event had been fired. He accused Merseyside Police and Liverpool council of over-reacting by shutting down the venue and pointed out that the stabbing was the only incident at the Garage in the last three years.

He added: “Things can, and do, happen inside nightclubs.

“Are we going to close down everywhere where something happens?”

A Merseyside Police spokesperson said:

“We are committed to making the streets safe and will not tolerate violence at night time venues in our city.”

A full review of The Garage will be held at a later date by the Liverpool licensing council.