O2 Academy Brixton has licence temporarily suspended after fatal crowd crush
Gaby Hutchinson and Rebecca Ikumelo died after being badly hurt at a show by Nigerian artist Asake on December 15.
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Your support makes all the difference.The O2 Academy Brixton has had its licence temporarily suspended after two people died in a crowd crush at the venue.
Security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33 were badly hurt when fans without tickets tried to get into a show by Nigerian artist Asake at the south London venue on December 15.
A 21-year-old woman remains seriously ill in hospital.
On Thursday, Lambeth Council’s licensing sub-committee decided to force the site to close until a further meeting on January 16 next year.
The O2 Academy Brixton offered a voluntary closure until that date.
The meeting was called following an application by the Metropolitan Police, who said the licence should be suspended immediately to “protect the public”.
Announcing the sub-committee’s decision, Cllr Fred Cowell said: “The sub-committee accepts the licence-holder’s offer to voluntarily close has been made in good faith.
“They have already cancelled a New Year’s Eve event and will cancel other events between now and January 16, 2023.
“However, counsel for the licence-holder… accepted that a voluntary undertaking by his client is not enforceable in law were it to be breached.
“The sub-committee’s focus today is on measures necessary to prevent serious crime or serious disorder or both at the venue.
“The sub-committee is aware that investigations are at an early stage and the facts that led up to the fatal incident are not entirely clear.
“However, in the view of the licensing sub-committee, given the severity of events of December 15 2022, the risks to public safety as a consequence of, in particular, serious disorder rising from a lack of crowd control at the front doors of the venue remain high if the venue were able to operate as before.”
In their application to have the licence suspended, police said it was apparent “security staff had completely lost control of the situation with regards to crowd control”.
The application read: “Many people were crushed by the sheer force of the crowd and many were injured, some seriously.
“As a result of the extremely serious nature of the incident, and the loss of life, a large and complex investigation has begun.
“We are asking for an interim step of immediate suspension of the licence while police conduct the initial stages of the investigations, in order to establish what failings have taken place and to identify what needs to be done to prevent a recurrence.”
Cllr Cowell said the decision should not be taken as an indication as to what the sub-committee will conclude at the next meeting in January.