Cllr Haseler asked Mr Higgs if threats were made to harm the neighbours when the incident was recorded and it was confirmed that threats were made, with his colleague as witness. Cllr Haseler requested Ben Higgs to go through the incident, to which Mr Higgs explained that he arrived at the premises on Saturday 14^th September 2019 at 2320 hours, drove onto London Road and parked at the rear of the premises’ car park. He heard music from the fire exit and undertook a risk assessment to see if there was any harm of the wardens being present on the premises.

Mr Higgs explained that Mr Candido Rodrigues came out of the restaurant, stormed to their car and seemed agitated. For safety purposes, Mr Higgs got out of the vehicle and stood in the crook of car door as protection between the wardens and Mr Candido Rodrigues. Mr Higgs was unsure if Mr Candido Rodrigues was agitated because of the presence of the wardens or something else. Mr Candido Rodrigues was annoyed with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and made death threats towards the neighbours and quoted “I’ll f-ing kill him”. Mr Higgs stated he had twelve years of experience working for Hampshire Police, so he had a good understanding of people’s behaviour and thought Candido Rodrigues was making meaningful comments. He then calmed Mr Candido Rodrigues, who then explained that the noise was from the Berkshire hotel nearby and not Pazzia.

Mr Candido Rodrigues offered the neighbours an evaluation of the property and £100,000 more to sell the house and Mr Higgs thought Mr Candido Rodrigues was annoyed that Mr and Mrs Hamilton’s did not agree to the proposal. Mr Candido Rodrigues said Mr Hamilton visited the premises to request the volume of the music to be turned down and went back to his property. He was not happy about this and went to the Hamilton’s residence with a meat cleaver and banged on their door and seemed excited when he saw the Hamilton’s run to their garden for safety. In retrospect, Mr Higgs said he would have dialled 999 after his encounter with Mr Candido Rodrigues due to the previous incidences as he felt that there was significant risk to Mr and Mrs Hamilton.

Cllr Haseler shared his concerns of the serious nature of the alleged use of a weapon by Mr Candido Rodrigues. He wanted clarity that after the voluntary interview with Mr Candido Rodrigues, was it viewed that it was not in the public interest to pursue the incident as far as the use of offensive weapons was concerned. Debie Pearmain introduced her Sargent, Acting Sergeant 5717 Phil Collings who covered the Ascot area. He explained that after looking at the crime report, there were evidential difficulties and therefore Mr Candido Rodrigues was not prosecuted. There were no independent witnesses, but had there been witnesses, the crime case would have been pursued and the case would have gone to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Chairman thanked the Thames Valley Police and community wardens and opened questions for the objectors.