Furore in UK over child cagefighting

Council chiefs in Britain have ordered a licence review for a club which staged cage fighting involving children as young as eight.

Concerns were raised about whether two boys were put at risk by taking part in a bout at Greenlands Labour Club in Preston, Lancashire, in front of a 250-strong adult audience.

The city council has now stepped in to check whether any licence conditions were breached and will ask the club not to put on any more similar events involving juveniles.

That review could take up to three months as the club is allowed 28 days to make its representations on the matter and then a similar period is opened up to members of the public to have their say.

Earlier Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt condemned the event as “barbaric” and expressed shock at an apparent lack of restrictions on the activity.

A video of the bout on September 10 posted on the internet shows the youngsters fighting in a cage without protective padding or headgear and receiving medical attention.

“Getting more young people doing sport is great but I do ask myself whether it really does have to be in a cage,” Mr Hunt told the BBC.

“It just feels to me, it feels very barbaric and I know there are concerns about children that young doing a sport like that.

“I think if adults choose to do it, that’s one thing ... I suppose I do share some of the shock that I think many of your viewers will feel.”

Lancashire Constabulary said they would not take action against the organisers as the force had “looked into this matter fully and there are no issues for us to pursue”.

Club owner Michelle Anderson defended her decision to stage the event.

She said: “The children were not doing cage fighting, they were just grappling. There was no punching, kicking or striking.

“The event was perfectly legal. There was only one fight for kids, which was a demonstration fight. The other fights were for adults.”

The 39-year-old, who has run Greenlands Labour Club for the last six years and holds boxing nights there, added: “If you criticise this, then you’ve got to ask yourself if it’s all right for kids to do boxing or judo.”

A spokesman for Sharefight, the company commissioned to video the event, said the video had been online for two weeks without complaint but was taken down last night “out of respect” for parents and others who had shown concern.

He added that the event took place in a “safe environment” and under strict conditions.