In the Ashley Brook pub in Langworthy, Jimmy stands with the aid of a walking stick in the exact same place by the bar where he was shot last May...
"This is my spot and that's what's got me through it" he says, holding a pint "I've been drinking here for twenty years, as long as it's been open, and it's only through Mark that this pub is what it is. It's just a community pub that's been devastated by all this and it's not fair. All the guy did was do his job and he's got punished for it. It's a joke...it's atrocious."
In was back in May when Ashley Brook landlord, Mark McElroy, refused to serve two underage customers. The next night, gunmen burst into the pub intending to shoot Mark but, by mistake, targeted Jimmy. The next day, Mark and wife Janet were told by police to leave the pub for their own safety.
For months, Mark and Janet stayed at their daughter's and, for a month, ran a pub in Prestwich... "All this time there was allegedly a threat on my life but I was walking my dogs past the pub three times a day, and living a few streets away. It was a complete joke" says Mark.
On October 6th, Mark got a call from the police giving him the all clear, saying that he could move back into the Ashley Brook. But less than two weeks later he was told to move out again because of another supposed threat to his life following `a small piece of intelligence'.
This time, the community, regulars and the family are fighting back, arguing that the threat just isn't viable...
"We're trying to get this decision overturned" says Kelly, Mark and Janet's daughter "We'd like to know why this decision has been made because we don't believe it is a true and valid threat. We think it's wrong that as victims of crime my parents are being punished. This could happen to anyone running a business.
"We've had word from the family involved that this was over in May, that it was a mistake" she explains "Yet the police have had this so-called `threat' and taken the word of a so-called criminal that there's a threat. Yet, if they were a decent criminal they wouldn't be phoning the police telling them what they are going to do in their criminal activities in the next six months.
"I don't understand why you can take someone out of their home for five months who was a victim in all this, put their lives through hell, bring them home and then, eleven days later, take that away" she adds "It's so cruel and wrong. They need to answer for this and I'm not going to stop until I get some answers and get my parents back home where they belong."
Even stranger is that when Mark was told to leave the pub, he was offered the chance to run one on the 'Heights a few miles away, behind which one of the alleged gunmen was arrested recently.
"Why are they going to allow my dad to run a pub a mile down the road?" asks Kelly "If he's going to get shot in here, he's going to get shot in there. I don't believe for one minute this is about my parents' safety. I don't know what it's about but I want to know.
"We want it explaining to us why these decisions have been made because if it's about the paramount safety of my family, which I don't think it is, why have they never offered my dad any police protection?" she adds.
Kelly now wants a meeting with the police, the brewery, the licensing department, local councillors, MPs and the family to try to get the decision overturned.
"I feel aggrieved that my mum and dad have spent 14 years of their life building up this community pub, it's awful" she says "I find it so hard watching my parents going through this. The treatment of my mum and dad has been disgusting by the police. I want to get my mum and dad home, and we as a community have got to make a stand on this."
The community is making a stand, with hundreds of people signing online and paper petitions, while speaking out at the injustice...
"I've been drinking in here since 1998, this is where we all come, it's not like a pub it's like a community centre, it's everyone's front room" says regular Paul Griffin "I met my wife in here, had my wedding in here and people know that you can come in here knowing that they're safe with Mark and Janet running the pub
"Mark's been penalised for doing his job, it's not his fault" he adds "He's played it by the book and the police have penalised him for it. I think it's disgusting. Other pubs shut down because were serving underage kids, and Mark stood a stand and upheld the law. This is the last pub standing in the area, we need Mark to stay otherwise it will be shut in twelve months. No disrespect to current landlady, she's brilliant, but she hasn't got the reputation that Mark's got."
Allen Berry is another regular who believes the Ashley Brook needs Mark and Janet...
"I've never felt so safe since Mark and Janet took the pub over, and I can't understand why the police can rip 14 years of life from what they've put into this pub" he says "This is one of the best community pubs in Salford. And all through one single threat Mark and Janet have got to get out – what are the police thinking of?"
Greater Manchester Police would not comment on the case or threats to life `due to the obvious sensitivities', and argues that a meeting has already taken place between the police, the landlord and the brewery.
In the meantime, the petitions grow and the Ashley Brook pub, which has been the venue for loads of charity and community events, is in limbo.
Latest on board the campaign is Peter Hook, who knows the pub inside out and has played both charity and Salford Music Festival gigs there.
"Mark (Jinxsy) has been part of my life for many, many years...I love him! It will be a pleasure to help him in any way I can" he says "He is a very special person, a person that Salford NEEDS! Now more than ever..."
To sign the petition to get Mark and Janet back in the Ashley Brook – click here
Photos by Steven Speed
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