Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Sheila Chapman introduced all participating in the teleconference meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Alice Clarke-Perry.

Councillor Gill substituted for Councillor Clarke-Perry.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None.

This item of business is being considered under urgency provisions.

The special circumstances under which the urgency provisions are being used, are detailed in the application for a summary licence review submitted by the Metropolitan Police, attached to this agenda.

DECISION

The Licensing Sub-Committee considered whether it was necessary to take interim steps pending a full licence review. The Sub-Committee took into account the oral and written representations from the police.

The Sub-Committee decided to suspend the licence of Orleans, 259 – 261 Seven Sisters Road, N4 2DD with immediate effect, for a period of 28 days, as an interim measure pending a full review hearing.

REASONS FOR DECISION

There had been an incident of serious crime and disorder perpetrated by the venue door staff, whose violent assault with a weapon on a member of the public, was captured on CCTV.  The door staff have been arrested for the offences by the police.  Another member of the public flagged down a passing police vehicle and the police called an ambulance.  No member of staff at the venue contacted the emergency services and the police advised the committee that the venue staff appeared to have attempted to clean the blood from the crime scene.

The police spoke to the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) some days after the incident to ascertain what measures had been put in place following the incident and the DPS confirmed that no measures had been put in place and they had not spoken to the venue staff in relation to the incident.

The Licensing Sub-Committee also heard from police that this most recent serious incident is not the first occurrence of a serious act of violence this year to which the venue have failed to respond appropriately. It was also noted that the venue have failed to adequately engage with council officers who have raised concerns about prior licence breaches.

Accountability ultimately lies with the premises licence holder/designated premises supervisor.  The Licensing Sub-Committee considered the only way that the serious management failings could be contained and further serious incidents avoided in the interim, pending a full review of the licence, was to suspend the licence with immediate effect.

The police advised that the application was submitted following a serious incident outside the nightclub on Christmas morning. A male was ejected from the club.  He then threw a can at door staff.  In response, a member of door staff retrieved a metal pole from inside the premises and all three members of door staff attacked the male customer, beating him over the head numerous times and kicking him whilst he was on the floor. They then returned to the premises and left the male lying on the pavement.  A member of the public flagged down a passing police vehicle who then called an ambulance.  The door staff did not contact any emergency services.  When asked, the premises did not know how the man came to be injured but local authority CCTV captured the evidence and staff have been arrested.  The police made contact with the DPS asking him to produce a management report but this had not yet been received.  He had put no additional measures in place and had not spoken to staff.  The police considered that the DPS had not taken the issue seriously.

The police stated that the three door supervisors had worked together to attack a customer.  They had known where to source a weapon from and where to hide it.  This suggested that the management of the venue had failed so badly that it presented a risk to safety.  The police stated that, in order to protect the public on New Year’s Eve and other events in January they asked that the licence be suspended.

In response to questions it was noted that there had been previous problems at the venue.  The most serious incident occurred when a member of door staff had been stabbed in the neck and the venue had tried to cover this up.  An officer panel had been held earlier in the year as a result of the issues at the premises.

DECISION

The Licensing Sub-Committee considered whether it was necessary to take interim steps pending a full licence review. The Sub-Committee took into account the oral and written representations from the police.

The Sub-Committee decided to suspend the licence of Orleans, 259 – 261 Seven Sisters Road, N4 2DD with immediate effect, for a period of 28 days, as an interim measure pending a full review hearing.

REASONS FOR DECISION

There had been an incident of serious crime and disorder perpetrated by the venue door staff, whose violent assault with a weapon on a member of the public, was captured on CCTV.  The door staff have been arrested for the offences by the police.  Another member of the public flagged down a passing police vehicle and the police called an ambulance.  No member of staff at the venue contacted the emergency services and the police advised the Sub-Committee that the venue staff appeared to have attempted to clean the blood from the crime scene.

The police spoke to the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) some days after the incident to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.