An Aberdeen pub group boss was arrested over alleged drugs offences on the night the firm’s beer tent gained national notoriety as rowdy football fans celebrated a historic Scotland win.
Paul Clarkson, the operations director of PB Devco, is under investigation for suspected drugs offences – though he has not been charged.
Police arrested him in Union Street on November 12, the date of Scotland’s milestone penalty shootout win over Serbia to earn a place at next year’s European Championship.
Officers are continuing to investigate the allegations.
A police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm a 42-year-old man was arrested on Union Street, Aberdeen, on Thursday November 12 in connection with drug offences.
“He was released pending further inquiries.”
Mr Clarkson, 42, had been at the Draft Project – his firm’s newest venue – that evening but it is understood he was not on duty.
He is not the licensee at any of PB Devco’s businesses, but is responsible for their day-to-day running as operations director.
Video footage shared from inside Draft Project on November 12 showed jubilant fans yelling, chanting, jumping around and hugging as the Scotland men’s team earned their first qualification for a major finals since 1998.
It led to 130 people officially objecting to the marquee’s continued trade when its temporary occasional licence was up for renewal last month.
Police attended the beer tent, erected in the shell of the former Bruce Millers music shop in Union Street, that evening and helped security staff eject a number of patrons.
No arrests were made related to potential breaches of coronavirus rules.
But after a backlash from the public, councillors on the Aberdeen Licensing Board were forced to hold a hearing into the complaints.
The delay in organising this meant the venue was forced to endure a weekend of being unable to sell alcohol while the Clarksons awaited their fate.
Mr Clarkson’s brother Barry is the current licensee overseeing the running of the Draft Project.
While a new licence was issued, the owners were banned from showing high-profile sporting events on television and ordered to halt sales at 10pm – despite any future change in the tiered coronavirus regional controls allowing later opening.
Draft Project was at the heart of earlier controversy in the pandemic, when it emerged licensing board convener Marie Boulton pushed through PB Devco’s initial application early, so it could open in time for Aberdeen’s first league game of the season at the beginning of August.
