A gym has lost its alcohol licence after a man was found dead in the car park following an illegal gathering to watch horse racing during the latest lockdown.
Paul Lees was found collapsed in a barrow outside the gym, police were told.
The 61-year-old had been watching the Cheltenham Gold Cup and drinking with up to 14 friends at the Gorilla Warfare Gym in Walkden on March 19.
Gym owner Paul O'Dee said he was under pressure from his step-father, who travels to Cheltenham every year with his friends to watch the horse racing.
Covid rules forbid fans from attending this year, and two of his friends were terminally ill, he said, so this would be the last race they could watch together.
Mr O'Dee allowed his step-father to watch the horse racing with five friends at the premises, formerly called Club 147 – but they had to bring their own beers.
He did not attend the event - except for 15 minutes to deliver some chips to organiser Paul Burrows - so did not know how many men were there, he said.
Mr Lees, who had mobility issues, was among the last people to leave the gathering, and suffered a heart attack on his way out, according to Mr O'Dee.
His friends tried to revive him using CPR, but failed and called an ambulance.
An ambulance attended and found Mr Lees unresponsive, but they could not revive him – police were called and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The gym, which has a bar for boxing shows, has now had its licence revoked.
Salford council's licensing panel held a hearing on Friday (May 14), offering Mr O'Dee an opportunity to defend himself and explain what happened that night.
The premises licence holder apologised to councillors for his actions.
He said: "I'm not making excuses, I shouldn't have let them in.
"But I want you to understand, I was under pressure from my father who is 77 and a couple of his friends who I've grown up with.
"They were willing to take the risk of sitting together to watch the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
"They were grown men who made that decision themselves.
"I allowed them to use my premises which is bigger than what my father's house would have been where they could space themselves out more.
"I make no excuses. I'm not trying to justify it. I just want you to understand the position I was in. These are six grown men over 60 years of age."
At the end of the hearing, Mr O'Dee said his gym will survive without a licence, but he will no longer be able to host free amateur boxing shows for local gyms.
Gorilla Warfare holds approximately 15 to 20 boxing shows a year, according to Mr O'Dee, using bar sales to subsidise the running costs of these events.
But outside of these boxing shows, Mr O'Dee said, the bar is always closed.
PC Krys Urbaniak told the panel that police received two separate reports claiming that boxing events were taking place at the gym on September 12.
Mr O'Dee said police attended, but discovered a Covid-compliant wake following the funeral of the mother of one of the coaches at the gym.
Greater Manchester Police dispute that officers attended and allowed the event to go ahead, but have failed to release any records of this incident.
The panel decided to revoke Mr O'Dee's premises licence after the hearing.
A summary of the decision will be available on Salford council's website and the parties involved will receive the full decision within five working days.
