Ashley Blake speaks for the first time since conviction for pub attack
Speaking about his conviction, he added: “I am flabbergasted. I have rewound right back to the night itself and thought how did such a wonderful occasion of the birthday party of one of my popular employees turn so nasty?”
Blake and his partner Jessica Hayes bought the Chester Road venue five years ago. But The Place 2 B (UK) Ltd went into liquidation three years later with debts totalling £89,205. The couple then set up a new business, The Place 2 B Thai Restaurant Ltd, at the same venue and sold it earlier this year.
He said: “It has ruined me, crippled me. Any money which we made when we sold the business in February has gone. We have had to rely on Jessica’s family to stump up thousands and I now have no means of paying that money back.”
Blake said he had worked hard to get away from his criminal past which includes a string of convictions, including two counts of theft in 1986 and three more in 1987. In 1988 he was convicted of handling stolen goods and altering documents after a traffic accident and in 1990 of driving while disqualified. Blake was again convicted of theft in 1993.
He said: “I grew up in Lozells, the youngest of six in a single-parent, mixed-race family and I faced the difficulties that inner-city life brings.
“It was silly juvenile behaviour as a result of getting mixed up with the wrong people. As soon as I realised what I was doing I worked extremely hard to get away from that life and since I have become well known I have never forgotten where I came from.
“I have been back into schools to try to act as a role model and get the message across that you can get out with hard work and determination.”
