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  • December 14, 2024
The investigation continues after the attack on Bilston’s pub owner

The investigation continues after the attack on Bilston’s pub owner

Diane Elcock required hospital treatment after she was attacked by three people at a well-known music venue on Sunday evening.

Miss Elcock was working behind the bar at The Trumpet in Bilston when a man and woman she had previously barred from entering the pub returned with another man.

The attack left her with a broken nose, a black eye and bruises on her body.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: “We were called at around 7.50pm on Sunday after a woman was attacked in a pub in High Street, Bilston.

“The woman was hit several times and was taken to hospital with injuries that are believed to be non-serious.

“A man aged 59 and a woman aged 26 from Wolverhampton were arrested on suspicion of assault. They have been released on bail pending further investigation.”

Diane Elcock with her partner Musti Bouameur.
Diane Elcock with her partner Musti Bouameur.

Miss Elcock, 50, who also works as a teacher in West Bromwich, has been running the renowned jazz venue with her partner Musti Bouameur for the past 12 years.

She said she now lived in fear that they would return.

The incident happened around 7:30 p.m. Earlier in the afternoon, she said she asked a middle-aged man and a younger woman, who had previously been banned from the bar, to leave.

“I told them it would be better if they drank somewhere else, and then went outside to put some distance between them and me,” she said.

“When I went back, they were gone, and I thought that was the end.”

But at about 6:30 p.m., she said they returned with another man, and the woman walked behind the bar and grabbed Miss Elcock by the neck.

“She put me in a headlock and hit me on the head,” she said.

“She pulled my hair and hit me. I tried to put the register out behind me and one of the men started banging on the register in an attempt to get the register to let go.

“The other male started taking the bottles off the shelf. The girl continued to hit me, the guy then started hitting me on the head. Then she pushed me down, low, and I screamed and screamed for help.

“My elderly customer who was in the pub came up to me, tried to help and told them to leave me alone. He came to the bar, they pushed him to the ground and started kicking him.

“I tried to escape, to get out from behind the bar. When I fell to the ground, the girl grabbed me again, and then she pushed me onto one of the benches, grabbed my hair and pulled my head to the ground , and she invited the two men to hit me on the head while she held me down.

Diane Elcock, a 50-year-old teacher who was working behind the bar at the Trumpet, Bilston, when she was attacked on Sunday evening.
Diane Elcock was attacked in her pub, The Trumpet

Mr Bouameur, who was upstairs at the time, heard the commotion and went downstairs to help. Outside the pub, the woman threatened that “your pub is done,” Miss Elcock added.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 20/882252/24 or alternatively use the live chat service on the police website.