Met wants Brixton venue licence revoked over crush

The Met Police submitted an application for a review of the venue's licence earlier this month

The Met Police has called for the O2 Academy Brixton to have its licence revoked after a fatal crush at the venue.

Two people died following a crowd surge outside the south London building during a gig by Afro-pop singer Asake on 15 December last year.

The venue had its licence suspended for three months on 16 January in response.

Academy Music Group (AMG), which runs the venue, said its proposals "will enable the venue to reopen safely".

Mother-of-two Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, from Newham, east London, and Gaby Hutchinson, 23, from Gravesend in Kent, who was a security contractor working at the venue, both died in the crush.

London Ambulance Service treated 10 patients at the scene, eight of whom were transferred to hospital.

Last month, the Met said a 21-year-old woman remained in hospital in a critical condition.

Rebecca Ikumelo and Gaby Hutchinson both died after the crush

In its submission, the force said it had "lost confidence in the premises licence holder".

A Met spokesperson said: "On 14 April, the Met Police submitted an application for a review of premises license to Lambeth Council and will be seeking a revocation of the licence."

It will be subject to a consultation period before a decision is made at a council sub-committee.

A spokesperson for AMG said the company had "co-operated fully with the Metropolitan Police and Lambeth Council since the tragedy at Brixton occurred".

They added: "We have had regular meetings and discussions with the Metropolitan Police and Lambeth Council at which we have presented detailed proposals that we believe will enable the venue to reopen safely.

"AMG has been awaiting feedback on those proposals for several weeks and looks forward to hearing from the police as soon as possible in constructive terms.”

A spokesperson for Lambeth Council confirmed it had received a licence review application from the Met.

They said AMG had been asked to "come up with workable changes" to the licence in January to "ensure no repeat of the tragic events of 15 December".

AMG has since submitted a variation application, which will also be looked at by a council sub-committee.

"There currently are two outstanding applications in relation to the venue, the license variation and the license review," the council spokesperson said.

"Lambeth Council will consider both in due course.”

They added that the venue would "not be able to carry out any licensable activities until after that meeting at the earliest".

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