Glass shatters lives. That is the message of campaigners for plastic bottles and glasses in pubs and clubs, to combat glassings – broken pint glasses or bottles used as weapons to scar victims.
Marjorie and Robert Golding are the parents of Blake Golding who had a second job as a doorman in central Milton Keynes. On Christmas Eve 2004, he was attacked with a glass bottle, suffered a serious loss of blood and was scarred. The attacker was later jailed.
The Goldings wrote: “If the bottle that had struck our son was plastic he probably would have received a bruise and a nasty headache, instead he is scarred physically down one side of his face and neck and the mental scars have gone deep too, over a quarter of victims of facial wounds experience a serious post-traumatic stress reaction, which requires long term follow up.”
For the Goldings’ full story visit – http://www.pop-campaign.co.uk/docs/glass_shatters_lives.pdf
Marjorie Golding has an e-petition on the offiical Government website – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/58559. The Goldings’ Pop-Campaign seeks to reduce glass related injuries in late night bars and night clubs, by replacing glass with plastic. The campaigners point to glass bottles and glasses as a most common weapon in assaults, and the cost to the NHS in treatment of glass-related injuries.
While licensing authorities and police may insist on plastic glasses at what are deemed high-risk venues or events, plastic bottles are not as common.
For the campaign website visit – http://www.pop-campaign.co.uk/
Separately, another e-petition is calling for ‘one man doors’ to be made illegal – that is, a door supervisor working a door by themselves. The petition says: “Unless legislation stops this practice then suppliers of Door Staff and Venue Managers / Owners will continue to risk the lives of Door Supervisors in order to save money.”
And another e-petition asks that all door supervisors should be routinely issued with handcuffs and side-handled batons: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/70469.
