Brixton Academy hearing: Lambeth Council support venue reopening “in principle”

nme.com:

The second and final day of a licensing hearing into the venue’s future was held at Lambeth Town Hall today (September 12). The hearing will determine whether or not the Academy Music Group (AMG) can continue to operate their licence at the music venue, after it was forced to shut its doors following a fatal crowd crush that occurred at an Asake concert back in December 2022.The event — which left two dead and one in a critical condition — ultimately led to the Academy having its licence suspended.

Gabrielle Hutchinson, aged 23, and 33-year-old Rebecca Ikumelo lost their lives as a result. The Metropolitan Police then made a push for the location to close its doors for good.After the morning was spent in private session, today’s public afternoon session opened with Lambeth Council barrister Horatio Waller QC laying out conditions for the potential re-opening of the venue, while the Metropolitan Police stated their opposition to it opening its doors again under the stewardship of AMG.Waller said that venue operator AMG have performed a “complete overhaul” of their security procedures and attitude towards risk assessments since the tragedy in December.

These were, he continued, “independently audited” by consultants and commended as “comprehensive and robust”. Waller added that the results of these findings have given police “confidence to work with AMG to help develop their proposals further.”The council “supports, in principle, the re-opening of the venue” based upon new conditions, Waller said.