| SPOTLIGHT |
Lambeth Council's Licensing Sub Committee has granted an application by the license holder for the O2 Brixton Academy to vary its premises licence and reopen following a fatal crowd crush incident in December 2022 that saw two people lose their lives and others seriously injured.
The decision, laid out in a subcommittee document published on Friday (15 September), came after a two-day hearing and despite submissions from the Metropolitan Police which argued allowing the previous license holder to continue operations would undermine confidence in the licensing system.
The subcommittee, chaired by Cllr Fred Cowell, allowed the license holder, Academy Music Group (AMG), to vary its license subject to an additional 77 conditions,
Lambeth closed the venue in December last year following the incident in response to an application from the Met Police for a 'Summary/Expedited review of the license under Section 53A (of the Licensing Act 2003).
The hearings held on 11 and 12 September saw the sub-committee consider a premises licence review application by the Metropolitan Police and a variation application by AMG.
AMG submitted that they had analysed the causes of the incident and proposed to put in place extensive preventative measures.
These measures included structural adjustments to the front doors to prevent them from being forced open, closer liaison with the police and council for events, a new security provider, and body cameras for some staff, among other things.
AMG also submitted that they were highly professional and experienced operators and that few other companies could run the academy as well as AMG.
The police meanwhile stated that they did not have confidence in AMG as the license holder and called for the variation to be refused.
They argued that given the seriousness of the incident in December, it risked undermining public confidence in the licensing system if AMG's licence was not revoked simply because of the restructuring of personnel in the venue.
Under the council's decision to allow the application to vary the license, AMG can only reopen the venue once it is compliant with all the agreed conditions.
The 77 additional conditions include a condition requiring AMG's risk assessment of future events to incorporate a modified version of the public sector equality duty (PSED).
Commenting on the decision, Cllr Cowell wrote: "The robust, far-reaching and enforceable measures we have determined must be taken by the Academy, subject to independent oversight and scrutiny, will result in the Academy being among the most highly regulated licensed venues in the country.
"In our assessment, with the addition of the 77 conditions we order to be imposed on the premises licence, the events of 15 December will not be repeated, and the Academy can safely reopen for the good of the live music loving community in Brixton and beyond."
Referring to the PSED condition, Cllr Cowell wrote: "This was an unusual step, but we were concerned to prevent enhanced risk assessments of future concerts inadvertently 'blanket-banning' certain genres of music and AMG fully supported us on this point noting the importance of the Academy to the BAME community."
There are currently ongoing criminal investigations being carried out by the Metropolitan Police arising in relation to the December 2022 incident. The council said it expects there to be inquests, and possibly civil proceedings, that will fully investigate the details of the incident.
Philip Kolvin KC of 11KBW acted for AMG.
Gerald Gouriet KC of Francis Taylor Building (FTB) acted for the Metropolitan Police at the hearing. Horatio Waller of FTB acted for the licensing authority. Gary Grant, also of FTB, was the Legal Advisor to the sub-committee.
Adam Carey
