Wonderland closes following assault

Wonderland has announced it is “closed until further notice” following an incident in which a man was attacked with a glass bottle.

The incident took place in the aftermath of England’s equaliser at around 11.50pm. The victim, 18-year-old Ryan Warren, was left with a serious eye injury and has since had an operation to reattach the retina in his left eye, with doctors warning he may never recover eyesight in the eye.

Police made six arrests on the night, including a male on suspicion of actual bodily harm and drug offences and two more on suspicion of assault.

Wonderland was unavailable for comment, simply leaving a status on its Facebook page that “Wonderland has closed until further notice, we are sorry for any inconvenience.”

Wonderland is popular for its Propaganda night on Fridays

The closure has drawn attention from those defending Wonderland and those condemning it for its breach of safety regulations as it sold 80p beer in glass rather than plastic bottles. One Facebook user commented, “What you get for selling beer at a high emotion game.. in glass bottles.. at 80p.” Another protested, “How is it all Wonderland’s fault? People shouldn’t be stupid enough to start fights. Blame the idiot who decided to bottle someone.”

First year UEA student Kerri Sayer said: “I feel it’s wrong to blame Wonderland itself. What are the bouncers meant to do? Get everyone to fill in a survey of their drunken habits and then assess them in order of appropriateness to enter the club?

“It’s unfair that it got closed. Maybe shutting it down for a couple of days to review how and why this happened and how it could have been avoided would have been a good idea, but how long it has been closed for now is unnecessary.”

Others disagreed. Victoria Brooks, Fashion Photography student at City College, told The Tab: “I was at the bar with a few friends when another girl went to talk to the barmaid about how a boy had been attacked and was being beaten on the floor. The barmaid didn’t seem to do a lot. The whole night was so disorganised. Glass everywhere and nowhere near enough security.”

Meanwhile, The Waterfront has announced that Propaganda will now be taking place at its venue, which is operated by the Union of UEA Students.

Finance Officer Joe Levell said: “I am really pleased to be bringing one of Norwich’s biggest nights to our venues. The Waterfront is a great place for club nights, and we look forward to working with our team at The Waterfront and Propaganda on making this really exciting for the future!”

What do you think of Wonderland’s closure? Was the assault the club’s fault? Let us know in the comments section.