Ex-landlady tells how attack in pub left her bankrupt

THE former landlady of the Jock's Lodge pub has told for the first time how her business was destroyed and that she was left bankrupt after a drug dealer was shot in the bar.

• Rose Ann Crawford was knocked for six when she lost her business

Rose Ann Crawford described the "60 seconds when my business went in a flash" when she tackled gunman Dean Scott after he had blasted ex-boxer James Carlin during a karaoke night.

The 58-year-old, who told how she tried to disarm the gunman, said her lease was removed by owner Scottish and Newcastle the following day and she had been made a "scapegoat" for the pub's problems.

Ms Crawford denied that the bar, which re-opened under new management last weekend, had been a "gang hut" used by Carlin and his associates, adding that she ran a "zero-tolerance" drug policy. She also described how her employees had been befriended by undercover police officers, who even joined the staff quiz team.

Carlin, 24, who was jailed for nine years in October for cocaine dealing, was ambushed in the pub in March last year by Scott, 27, who shot him over a drug debt.

Ms Crawford said: "James Carlin was not using the pub as a gang hut, and neither me nor any of the staff were involved with drugs. We were just trying to run a business and we got caught up in something bigger.

"Before the shooting, I hadn't seen Dean Scott for about three years. When I was an interior designer, he was a joiner I had used for a job in Hull. He was entirely different then, never touching drugs.

"I hadn't seen James for months before that, either. I'd told him he was causing me problems with the police licensing officers and he said, 'fine, I'll stay away'."

Ms Crawford, who took over the pub in April 2008, said Carlin and his gang rarely came in.

She said: "On the day of the shooting, James Carlin had phoned me and asked if he could come in because his friend had had a baby and all the friends were celebrating.

"I let them in and warned them not to make trouble, and James promised that I could bar him if anything happened.

"The karaoke was on and I was in the lounge when the bar staff ran in and shouted 'he's got a gun'.

"I ran through and saw a man with a gun standing over James, who was still sitting down with blood on his face. I didn't recognise him at first, but I realised it was Dean.

"I stood between them to separate them. James was shouting, 'You don't even know how to use it', because the gun had misfired. Then James threw a stool at him, and Dean fell back through the door.

"I stood at the door and told Dean to give me the gun, but he just looked right through me.

"When you watched it back on the bar's CCTV, the incident lasted a minute."It was the 60 seconds when my business went in a flash."

In October, Scott was sentenced to 12 years for blasting Carlin in the leg with a 9mm handgun, then pistol-whipping him. His co-accused, David Coutts, 21, was given 21 months after he admitted stabbing Carlin.

Ms Crawford, who now works as a private hire driver, said Scottish and Newcastle phoned her the next day and removed her lease as she had "failed to protect customers".

She added: "The council then sent a demand for 30,000 in business taxes. I had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

"I was knocked for six that I had lost this business I worked so hard to build up. I was absolutely devastated and it practically destroyed me."

The Evening News told last week how the Jock's Lodge pub had re-opened under new management after being closed down for a second time since the shooting.