Landlord’s ‘regret’ event with Swastika cake held at his pub

A pub chain has apologized after it was claimed a music event with alleged “neo-Nazi” links took place in a Merseyside pub.

Concerns have been raised by campaign group Hope not Hate about the event, which took place at the Cooksons Bridge pub in Bootle on Saturday 11 May, with several musicians, who Hope not Hate say have links to prominent neo-Nazi groups , reserve for Play. A flyer, seen by the ECHO, billed the event as “Chad’s birthday party”.

The ECHO understands the organizer of the event was Chad Charles, a 50-year-old man who has previously been jailed for inciting racial hatred. Charles was behind another music event with alleged links to the “neo-Nazi” scene, due to take place in Widnes in 2022.

He later claimed he was no longer involved with the far right, posting on Facebook: “Now don’t get me wrong. Yes, I was a right-wing nationalist and I went to jail, but that’s where the truths end. Since they. days in which I totally changed my life.”

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The event took place in the beer garden of the Cooksons Bridge pub in Bootle. Hope Not Hate and others said they repeatedly tried to contact the pub’s owners and managers in the run-up to the event to warn them of the gathering’s potential themes.

Images shared on social media after the event, collected by Hope not Hate, appear to show Mr Charles standing next to a cake with the swastika symbol on it. Other images show attendees of the event openly wearing Nazi-themed T-shirts and badges.

The pub is ultimately owned by operator Punch Taverns and is leased.

Responding to concerns raised about the event, a spokesman for Punch Taverns told the ECHO: “As an inclusive pub company, we would like to reassure the community that we take matters of this nature incredibly seriously.

“When we were alerted to concerns raised about the event which took place at The Cooksons Bridge pub, we immediately launched an investigation to gain a thorough understanding of the situation.

“While our internal investigations continue, we remain in support of our Cooksons Bridge publican, who deeply regrets the decision to allow the event to continue once its true nature became apparent.”

The statement added: “Together, we would like to apologize to the community and our guests for any undue concern this has caused. We want to reassure the community that The Cooksons Bridge, like all our pubs, remains a place where extremism of any kind will not be tolerated under any circumstances.”

Both Merseyside Police and Sefton Council said they had not been notified of any incidents related to the event that took place that they would need to respond to.

The ECHO tried to contact Mr Charles.

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