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| Jolson`s, 1999. Credit Martin Easdown |
Licensees
Harry Hall 1990 1992
Harry Hall and Keith Ashman 1992 1995 Also Clarendon Hotel 1992-94. Harry Hall also Castle Inn and Imperial from 1993
Harry Hall and Vincent McEvitt 1995 1998 Harry Hall also Castle Inn and Imperial. Vincent McEvitt From Imperial
Harry Hall, Vincent McEvitt and Lisa Richardson 1998 2001 Harry Hall also Castle Inn and Imperial. Lisa Richardson From Castle Inn
Harry Hall, William Hall, Sarah Hall, Jacqueline Moore, Lisa Richardson and Tracy Smith 2001 2004
Harry Hall, Lisa Richardson, Sarah Hall, Keith Craig and Warren Day 2004 2004 +
Folkestone Herald
2-11-1990
Advertising Feature
You don`t have to walk a million miles to get a smile at
Folkestone`s newest pub – Al Jolson`s. Craftsmen have renovated an old building
at the bottom of Tontine Street to make Al Jolson`s the handiest quality pub in
the town.
When you are planning a long night out with friends at
the weekend – maybe finishing it off at a nightclub – Al Jolson`s id the
perfect place to start. Everything Folkestone has to offer in night-time
entertainment is just round the corner from Al Jolson`s – but when you get
inside you may not want to leave. Visitors can nestle on plush comfortable
seats and big bar stools. For a quiet evening with a loved one you can slip
into a snug corner and chat in an atmosphere smoothed by Al Jolson`s quiet
lighting. Tasty food is available – plump cakes and cold meals throughout the
day and night, with piping hot dishes served up at lunchtime. Al Jolson`s is
also fashioning a bit of luxury behind the bar with a selection of
sophisticated cocktails.
Pub-goers will will be entertained by live performers on
some nights – check at Al Jolson`s to see what`s coming up. Every day clear
bright music will percolate through the bar`s chatty hum from Al Jolson`s top
class stereo equipment. And watch out – the staff warn they might slip in one
of Al`s old great classics among modern tunes.
You will be impressed by Al Jolson`s friendly
professional bar staff. They make the pub run smooth as clockwork. It`s easy to
get to Al Jolson`s as well – at the bottom of Tontine Street there are car park
spaces enough to cater for the pub – no matter how popular it gets. Al Jolson`s
is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., except on Sundays, when it`s 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
and 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. Cold food is on sale from 11.30 a.m. until 11 p.m.,
and hot meals can be bought from 11.30 a.m. in the morning until 2.30 p.m.
Folkestone Herald
11-9-1992
Local News
Pubs are shutting down tomorrow (Saturday) for fear of
violence after an Anti-Nazi demo. Campaigners say they will demonstrate at
Folkestone Central railway station against an expected rally there by Nazi
skinheads. And some publicans, particularly in the Harbour area, are taking no
chances with their property and staff.
The assistant manager of the Royal George in Beach
Street, who did not want to be named, said “We could be in a prime area for
trouble and we are shutting all day. It is not worth staying open, even if only
a few hundred pounds worth of damage is caused”.
Landlady Sue Welch said her pub, the London and Paris in
Harbour Street, would certainly close during the day and possibly in the
evening. She said “The place could get wrecked. We can`t risk that”. Her son,
barman Alan, 19, said “There could be real danger. This is the area where there
is most likely to be trouble because Fascists from Europe may travel here by
Seacat”.
Some pubs and bars, such as Jolson`s in Tontine Street,
are definitely staying open. A member of staff, who did not want to be named,
said “We didn`t close when the bombs and shells came down during the war. Why
should we close now for a bunch of skinhead idiots?”
Other pubs are taking advice from the police and may make
their decisions tomorrow morning.
A spokesman at the Park Inn, next to Folkestone Central
Station, said “A lot of people are frightened by this. I know of some people
who say they won`t go into work at the town centre tomorrow. But we don`t know
if we will shut because we are not certain the rally will go ahead”.
Last Saturday anti-fascist activists leafleted the town
asking people to attend the demonstration. Anti-Nazi League member Kelvin
Williams told the Herald 4,000 flyers were handed out and 500 names taken on a
petition. He said “I`ve done a few of these in my time and I have never known
such a favourable response. My guess is there will be 400 people turning up”.
Last week a spokesman for the far-right Blood and Honour
organisation, which had hoped to stage a concert in Folkestone, said nothing
was now planned.
But Mr. Williams countered this week; “Our information is
that they will be mobilising in London to come down here”.
Jon Steel, a spokesman for Kent Police, said “People
ought not to be panicking because if there is any disturbance it will be
quashed very quickly. We will have whatever resources are necessary to deal
with whatever happens”.
Folkestone Herald
8-6-1995
Local News
A furious bride-to-be has had to call back all her
wedding invitations after a mix-up over the booking for the reception.
Bernice Scanlon went to the Harbour pub, Folkestone, at
the end of April to ask about a wedding reception for 70 people in August. She
claims the manager booked the date in the diary and told her to return a month
later to discuss a price and pay a deposit. But when she went back at the end
of May Miss Scanlon said she was told no
booking had been made and there was no way the pub`s restaurant could seat 70.
Miss Scanlon, 22, of Cheriton Road, Folkestone, who works as a barmaid at
Jolson`s nightclub in Tontine Street, said “When I went the first time I asked
if they could do a sit-down meal for 70 people on August 19. The manager put my
name and phone number in the diary and said they would definitely be able to do
it. He told me to come back for a quote, but said it would be fine and there
would be no problem. He said it was going to be refurbished and the place would
be beautiful for me. But when I went back I was told there was no way they
could seat that many people in the restaurant and they couldn`t do the
reception. I thought they were joking, it was such a shock. I have sent out all
the invitations and paid for everything. It`s only nine weeks until I get
married and I`ve got to start all over again. Surely they could have rung me to
let me know. I have complained to the brewery`s head office about it but I
haven`t heard anything yet”.
But Helen Waters, manageress of The Harbour, said that
although the reception had been entered in the diary no definite booking was
made. She said “It was a provisional booking and she was asked to come back in
a month to confirm it and sort out a price. I don`t know why she sent out her
invitations before it had been confirmed. Andy, the manager, made a note of the
date and numbers in the diary. He told her vwe were waiting for a refurbishment
and she would need to come back and see us at the end of May. We haven`t got 70
seats in the restaurant, and still won`t have that many after the refurbishment
has been done. She got very angry when I told her it hadn`t been booked, but
she hadn`t agreed a price and had nothing in writing. I didn`t know we had her
phone number, but if I had I would have phoned and told her we couldn`t do it.
I did apologise to her when she came in”.
Bernice, whose fiancé Philip Yates, also 22, is serving
in the Army at Aldershot, has now booked a reception at The Carpenters, in The
Stade, Folkestone, and is sending out new invitations. She said “I`ve got to
get all the old invitations back and have them all redone. They cost me £50,
but now I`ll buy cheap ones because i can`t afford to spend so much again. I`m
very angry indeed”.
Folkestone Herald
20-6-1996
Maidstone Crown Court
A young mother wept as a judge told her that prison was
the only sentence for her crime. Suzette Parmenter, 30, of Earls Avenue,
Folkestone, glassed another girl in the face during a spate of drunken
violence, Maidstone Crown Court was told. Judge David Griffiths told her there
could be no alternative to a prison sentence, and he told her “Everything that
could be said on your behalf has been said”.
Parmenter, who admitted wounding Claire Barnes at Jolsons
fun pub, in Tontine Street, Folkestone, was jailed for 18 months.
Martin Joy, prosecuting, said Ms. Barnes needed seven
stitches in a wound near her left eye after Parmenter lunged towards her with a
glass. The incident happened on New Year`s Eve last year, when Ms. Barnes and
her sister, Michelle, with their boyfriend, were among a number of people
spending the evening at the pub. Parmenter suddenly appeared at Claire Barnes`
side and accused her of spilling a drink over her. The defendant became violent
and there was a struggle between the two girls. When it ended Parmenter went
out and sat on a stool, while Miss barnes went to fetch either her boyfriend or
a doorman. Mr. Joy said “The defendant stood up and lunged towards her with a
glass, which she rammed into the victim`s left eye. The glass broke on impact”.
Afterwards Parmenter was discovered sitting on a wall outside and was arrested.
Mark Heywood, defending, said he conceded it was serious,
but suggested there could be an alternative to prison. His client, who had
never denied she was responsible for causing the injury, had shown genuine
remorse, he said. The incident had happened when she was out with her family,
including her father, her brother and his wife, and her fiancé. “This was a
family occasion. Others became involved and sought to take retribution, not
only this defendant, but members of her group”. A working mother, she had
responsibility for her 12-year-old daughter. The only other person available to
care for her if she were jailed was the fiancé, and he was also working.
Folkestone Herald
3-10-1996
Maidstone Crown Court
A Folkestone bar manager whose obsession with his former
fiancée led to him viciously attacking her has been jailed for 18 months. A
judge said Steven Lloyd would have been given “very large credit” if he had
admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent instead of being convicted by
a jury. “The victim was crucified by having to give evidence”, said Judge John
Colyer, QC. “This offence was committed twice – once on the night and once in
the Court room. To see this inflicted on the victim was distressing. People who
commit these sort of offences must appreciate this”.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that the 35-year-old manager
of Jolsons strangled Karen Lancefield in a fit of jealousy. She had moved out
of the flat they shared in Cheriton when he attacked her in the early hours of
December 4 last year. Unable to cope with the break-up of the relationship, the
father-of-two returned after an evening of drinking with friends and tried to
throttle her.
“He said nobody else would ever have me, and that was
when he grabbed hold of me and I couldn`t breathe”, said the sales
administrator, from New Romney. I was getting fainter and fainter. Everything
was going fuzzy. I gave up the struggle. I didn`t have any strength left”.
Lloyd eventually loosened his grip and said he could not believe what he had
done. Miss Lancefield was left in severe pain, unable to move her head or neck.
Peter Forbes, defending, said it was “a desperately sad
case from all perspectives”. The strangulation, he said, was extremely
alarming, distressing and frightening, and Lloyd was full of remorse. Mr.
Forbes said Lloyd, now of Darby Road, Folkestone, became obsessed with the
relationship and the fact the relationship was fading. He was deeply
emotionally troubled and upset in the weeks preceding the attack. “It is
extremely difficult now for him to comprehend because the obsession is over”,
said Mr. Forbes. “It was wholly out of character. He had become very upset and
emotionally turbulent”.
Hairdresser Kevin Walker, of Sandgate Road, Folkestone,
said he had known Lloyd since February and was a very close friend. “He was
horrified that he had anything to do with such an offence”, he told the Judge.
He added that Lloyd was “a very industrious and valued employee” at Jolsons,
owned by Harry Hill, and very settled in a new relationship.
Mr. Forbes asked that a probation order be considered
instead of prison. “Protection of the public is not a major consideration in
this case”, he submitted. “It is a deceptively sad case”.
Judge Colyer told Lloyd “This is a very serious offence
and only justified by a custodial sentence. Were I not to impose one the
entirely wrong message would be sent out to the community at large. It is just
as serious a matter to assault a girlfriend as it is to assault anyone else.
There is no blanket defence of forgiveness to be applied just because someone
is emotionally involved. Grown men control their emotions and this lady could
easily have died. You must be thankful that the matter did not end up with a
fatality. As it is, you nearly strangled her, and it could have been very much
more serious than it was”. He added “I bear in mind the emotional stress you
were in and stress suffered since the offence – a suffering which you have in
great part brought upon yourself”.
Folkestone Herald
5-3-1998
Maidstone Crown Court
Two doormen at a Folkestone pub and disco have been
cleared of assaulting a customer after the case against them collapsed. Roger
Patterson and Andrew Crow had been accused of attacking Kevin Breen outside
Jolson`s in Tontine Street and breaking his nose. But a judge decided there had
been an abuse of process because it was revealed at the trial that security
film from inside the pub and from a CCTV camera in the street had been
destroyed.
John Landau, prosecuting, said Mr. Breen had been
drinking in the bar during a karaoke evening on August Bank Holiday in 1996,
and was ejected after an incident with a girl. Outside, Patterson, 30, and
Crow, 34, kicked Mr. Breen`s legs from under him and hit him around the head,
Mr. Landau told Maidstone Crown Court.
Patterson, of Sandgate Road, and Crow, of St. Michael`s
Street, Folkestone, denied assaulting Mr. Breen, causing actual bodily harm,
and the issue arose as to how he suffered his injuries.
“These two men are hardly slim-built or thin men”, Mr.
Landau told the jury. “They are quite fit and strong. They were two onto one.
Bouncers have a duty to make sure people behave themselves properly in clubs,
but they have to do it reasonably. They cannot use excessive force”>
Jolson`s owner, Harry Hall, said he knew Mr. Breen, as he
was a tenant in one of the pubs he owned. He said he was stopped three times by
the “security officers” from going back into the bar. Mr. Hall described Mr.
Breen as being “a bit messed up”, but said of photographs of his battered face
“He didn`t look as bad as that”. He added “I didn`t see any sign of a scuffle
or fight. I can`t remember punches either way. I asked Kevin if he wanted the
police called, and he said “No””. Mr. Hall agreed he had said in a statement
that he saw Mr. Breen headbutt Crow. “I was trying to calm the situation down”,
he said. “I have been there 30 years and it is my responsibility to keep
everyone happy”.
After submissions by lawyers for Patterson and Crow,
Judge David Griffiths decided on Friday that the case against them should be
“stayed”. “There were clearly video tapes of something that night”, he said.
“The problem that arises is that nothing has been done about either of them”.
The Judge found that the defence had been wrongly deprived of material that
should have been made available to them before the trial.
Patterson and Crow, who were awarded travel expenses,
shook hand in the dock when the decision was announced.
Folkestone Herald
19-3-1998
Local News
A jobless man who went to a Folkestone bar because he was
worried a heroin dealer was targeting teenagers got on the wrong side of the
law himself. Police arrested the dealer in the toilets of Jolson`s bar in the
Old High Street (sic) on December 20 last year.
But Tony Morosioi, 28, from Indgoldsby Road, Folkestone,
was also arrested outside the bar for causing a breach of the peace. And,
ironically, when Morisoli was searched police found he had some cannabis and
amphetamine sulphate. He admitted both offences at Folkestone Magistrates Court
last week, and was fined £60 for each and ordered to pay £55 expenses. The
Bench ordered that the drugs be destroyed.
Michael George, prosecuting, said Morosili had bought
both items for his own use.
Julian Rixon, defending, said his client had no previous
offences relating to drugs. “During a conversation with a teenager he became
aware of a heroin dealer who had been offering to supply heroin to people of
that age. There is a world of difference between a man who has cannabis and
amphetamines in small amounts for his own personal use and another man who is
attempting for commercial purposes to supply 14 and 15-year-old schoolboys with
heroin”. Morosoli`s arrest was caused by a genuine concern about the effects of
hard drugs, added Mr. Rixon.
Folkestone Herald
26-3-1998
Local News
Landlord Harry Hall, of Jolson`s on Tontine Street, says
he is leading the fight against drug abuse in Shepway. Mr. Hall, who uses a
security company owned by famous man of iron, Geoff Capes, says he takes a dim
view of drug use. “It is the most wicked thing the present generation are
involved in. No part of our business will tolerate such activities”, he added.
An incident on December 20 last year highlights the tough
line taken by Mr. Hall against drug users. He says two men were detained
outside Jolson`s by his security guards after a scuffle in the toilets. The
police were called and both men were arrested for possession of drugs and later
charged. Geoff Capes`s son, Lewis, works as a doorman at the bar on Friday
nights.
Mr. Hall added “Had it not been for Geoff Capes security
team the police would not have arrested these men”.
Folkestone Herald 4-2-1999
Maidstone Crown Court
Convicted killer Alan king
walked free from Court after admitting struggling with a knife-wielding man in
a Folkestone nightclub. King was said to have been acting like a responsible
citizen when he disarmed the man. But he was arrested when he refused to hand
the weapon over to a person in authority. On Friday he admitted having a bladed
article in a public place when he appeared before Maidstone Crown Court.
Judge Michael Neligan, who
accepted his explanation for having the knife at Jolson`s nightclub in
Folkestone, placed him on probation for 12 months. But he told King if this had
been any other type of case involving a knife in public he would have been
going to prison.
King, 22, of Bouverie Road
West, Folkestone, also admitted the theft of five skirts from the New Look
store in the town, and was given a concurrent probation order for that offence.
David Tomlinson,
prosecuting, said police were called to Jolson`s shortly after 10 p.m. on March
18, 1998. Cameras were trained on the defendant and a doorman standing outside.
King was persuaded to submit to a search and the knife was found. He later said
that he had disarmed a person in the club that night, and had had his hand cut
during the struggle. “So his initial reaction was lawful, but it became
unlawful when he said that he wouldn`t hand it over to a person in a position
of authority”, said Mr. Tomlinson.
The theft offence came to
light after he was seen putting ladies` clothing under his jacket.
King had a number of
previous offences, including a conviction for manslaughter at Reading Crown
Court in December, 1990, when he was jailed for seven months.
Simon Medland, defending,
said despite having a bad record, King “seemed to have turned the corner”, and
a probation officer spoke of the “extraordinary change in his way of life”. Mr.
Medland said King is suffering from a serious illness and his ill-health had
had a profound effect on him.
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