Clerkenwell Liberal Democrats

Today, Islington Licensing Committee reviewed Ghost’s licence and ordered that in future it should close at 1.00am, not opening again until 10.00am on Sundays or 7.00am on other days.

It also removed its owner, David Serlui, as the Designated Premises Supervisor of the premises and ordered that the Club should not reopen until CCTV had been installed externally and its sound system recalibrated to control noise.

It also ordered that another 25 conditions be added to its Licence.

Police: “Out of Control, a hot spot for crime, disturbance and violence”

The Committee heard a senior police officer say that the premises were out of  control, the functioning of the club having been assumed by its (now sacked) security firm.  Evidence from an undercover police officer hours before the shooting on 13th December reported that none of the security staff were wearing their identity badges, as required, and that they appeared to be pursuing their own admissions policy, causing resentment among those waiting outside.

There had been a total of 36 calls to the Police since February 2009 relating the the premises, he added.  Of these 11 related to violence, 5 were drug-related and 11 about antisocial behaviour.

He concluded that Mr Serlui was not operating the premises appropriately; that the Committee should consider removing him as DPS; and that the current opening hours would not support the licensing objectives of reducing crime and public nuisance.  The Club was a hotspot for crime, disorder and violence.

More than 20 residents had put in objections asking the Committee to revoke the club’s Licence completely. They reported a downward spiral of disorder, drug-dealing, noise and fights, bringing an atmosphere of menace to their previously peaceful neighbourhood over the last 12 months.  Serlui’s attempts to deal with their concerns had made matters worse.

Mr Serlui had parted company from his lawyers and represented himself.  His response consisted firstly of a sustained attempt to stop me commenting on his activities at all, claiming that I should have been “objective” throughout, assisting him to open his night club.  In this he failed and the Committee allowed me to say what I wanted, on behalf of the dozens of constituents who have complained to me about the club.

His story was then that the Club had become popular among the black community as a result of its “fair and non-discriminatory” admission policy.  It was only in November 2009 that the police made him aware of their serious concerns about drugs, firearms etc and about his security firm.  A change to a new firm was agreed to take place in January 2010, but - sadly - before this could take place, someone had inexplicably smuggled a gun of unknown size into the Club and shot someone.   He was now suing his former security firm.

Some of the calls to the Police were from the club itself, in order to arrest people fighting or found to be dealing in drugs.  On one night (7th/8th November) he had even hired an (ex-Police) consultant to observe the Club, who saw nothing amiss.  The Committee itself noted that the Police had been called 4 times to the Club on 8th November alone - apparently unremarked by the consultant.

On one occasion the club had been “steamed” by a group of youths, he added.  Some of the residents’ evidence was mistaken because the club was closed on the dates on which they said disorders had taken place, he asserted.  Many nearby licensed premises were the source of some disorders.

I told the committee that the residents and police evidence showed there had been incidents on 14 of the last 15 weekends it had been open.

I asked that Mr Serlui be sacked as DPS in any event and that the licence of the club should be revoked completely in order that the future of any licensable activities in it could be considered completely afresh.  The premises were totally unsuitable for the three “shifts” of up to 400 clubbers Mr Serlui was bringing through the premises every Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Mr Serlui now has 21 days to decide whether to appeal against the decision.

Islington Licensing Committee today (6th January) adjourned a hearing on the formal “Review” of the premises licence of Ghost Club until a further hearing on Monday 11th January at 2.00pm.

This was on the application of lawyers acting for David Serlui, owner of the club,  who said that they had not been given sufficient notice of the mass of representations that came in by the deadline of 30th Deccember.  There was then legal argument about how the conflicting requirements of the Licensuing Act and hearings regulations should be applied.

This was a disappointment to the many residents from the area who had taken time off work to attend the hearing and braved the snow and ice to get to the Town Hall.

Meanwhile, in further evidence made available at the meeting, it has emerged that Police were called to Ghost 34 times between February and December 2009 for incidents ranging from theft to grievous bodily harm.

I shall be at the meeting on 11th January and it would be great if any residents from the area could come along to Islington Town Hall just before 2.00pm.

The preliminary papers for the hearing of the review of Ghost’s licence have now been published  on the Council’s web site here.  The review will be at the meeting of Licensing Committee “D” starting at 10.00am on Wednesday 6th January 2010 at Islington Town Hall.  The “Ghost” item won’t start before 1.00pm but in practice this is likely to be 2.00pm.

The papers include objections already received from residents, but also, importantly evidence from the Police and the Council’s noise service.  Other objections received up to the deadline of 30th December will probably be circulated shortly thereafter.

In the papers the Police give details of the incident on the morning of 13th December when a man was shot inside the Club, confirming that the door staff initially denied all knowledge of a shooting, despite members of the door staff having taken the victim to hospital.  It also details a string of previous calls and intelligence received, firmly related to drug supply, fights, threats of violence, posession of firearms etc.

The Council’s noise patrol gives evidence of eight visits, during six of which they witnessed noise nuisance, disorder or anti-social behaviour, including one on 27th September when a man left his car in the middle of Farringdon Road, noisily greeted friends nearby, while gesticulating at the traffic obstructed in Farringdon Road by him and sounding their horns.

The papers also include details of the 26 new conditions unsuccessfully proposed by club owner David Serlui in an attempt to re-open before the review takes place.

The Ghost night club lost its attempt to stay open over Christmas and New Year at a hearing at Islington Town Hall earlier this afternoon (21st December).

David Serlui asked the Licensing Committee to reinstate his licence - suspended after the summary closure by the Police following a shooting in the early hours of 13th December.

Cllr Marisha Ray and I are seen here outside the Club this morning with a group of concerned local residents.

Mr Serlui’s lawyer told the Committee that:

• the previous security firm had been sacked;
• all events at the premises would be promoted by himself, so there would be no more events “promoted” by other organisations;
• the club would stop serving alcohol at 2.30am and close at 3.00am.

He also offered more than 20 new conditions, to be attached to his licence, most of them dealing with the details of how registered door staff were to be managed and regulated.

Questioned by the Committee and Council officers, Mr Serlui’s proposals started to look a bit shaky.  In particular:

• the club would close at 3.00am - but open again at 6.00am.  So his 24-hour licence would merely become a 21-hour one instead;
• many of the security measures were said to be already in place - but if so, why had they not worked before the shooting on 13th December?
• was there any real difference between a “promoted” event and one organised in-house?
• why was an event at the club on New Year’s Eve still being promoted on a  promoter’s web site?  (The Police said they could not resource the policing of such an event on New Year’s Eve if people had to be turned away.)

After a 20-minute adjournment to consider its decision, the Committee decided to make no change to the complete suspension of Ghost’s licence imposed by a (differently-constituted) Licensing Committee on 14th December.

The Committee’s ruling made it clear that they still had “grave concerns” about the failure of Mr Serlui to manage the premises, and that they did not accept that the measures proposed would promote the licensing objectives laid down in the Licensing Act 2003.

It has emerged that the man shot inside the club was taken to hospital by the security staff, who did not inform the police or ambulance services or, it is said, the management of the club.

I had asked the Licensing Service to ask the Committee to open the meeting to the public and press, and it agreed to do so.   Regulations state that hearings such as this have to be in public unless the public interest is better served by having it in private (eg if there is sensitive Police evidence).

I welcome this decision.   The one regret I have is that it has taken a shooting to make the Police take the problems with Ghost bar seriously.  Most residents in the area have had bitter experience of the poor management of the club, making the shooting just a matter of time.  The summary review, and the conditions put forward by Mr Serlui, were all about door security, rather than the endlessly repeated problems of the behaviour of the clubbers, which Serlui has shown himself incapable of dealing with.

The closure will last until the full review triggered by the Police action - likely to be early in the New Year and possibly 6th January.  Representations from people living within 300 yards or so have to be received by the Islington Licensing Service by 30th December.

If you live in this area, please either write to the Service at licensing@islington.gov.ukon or before 30th December or follow this link and sign our “Ghost must Go!” petition.

Ghost is appealing against Islington Council Licensing Committee’s decision to shut them down pending a formal review in January.

The only information I have is that the appeal will be heard at a Licensing Committee on Monday 21st December at 2.00pm at Islington Town Hall.  At this stage I am not clear whether the meeting is in public or not.  A decision will be made at the end of the hearing.

Some of us are meeting the Islington Tribune at 10.30am outside the club on Monday morning for a photo.  All are welcome to join us.

Today, Clerkenwell’s Lib Dem Councillors are starting a campaign to get the Ghost Night Club closed down, following incessant disturbance, violence, noise, disorder, traffic chaos and now, a shooting.

Follow this link to our campaign web site, and  - if you live in one of the streets named there - sign our petition OR submit your own written comments to Islington Council by 30th December 2010.

We will be happy to help people make individual comments on the review, as these carry more weight than any petition.  Contact George Allan if you would like help.

There is a link to the Islington Gazette coverage of the shooting incident here.

If you can, please come to St James’ Church, Clerkenwell Close, tomorrow (15th December) to take part in an urgent mass-screening by the Antony Nolan Trust to find a bone marrow donor for Rachel Baughen.

Rachel has a rare form of leukaemia and urgently needs a transplant.  Many people will know her from her work at the Church, where her husband Andrew is the Vicar, and at Clerkenwell Parochial School, where she was the Chair of Governors and did so much to turn it around, with spectacular results.

The  screening is 12.00 noon-2.30pm and 4.30pm to 7.00pm.  You could be the donor Rachel needs.

The news is on the BBC site here and the Evening Standard here.

Ghost, the controversial night club in Farringdon Road, has been closed down, pending a formal “review” of its licence, by the Licensing Committee of Islington Council this afternoon.

The Police closed the club at 4.00am on Sunday 13th December, following a shooting incident which has left one man in hospital with serious gunshot wounds.  The Police then applied to Islington to extend the ban until the review had taken place.

This is only the latest episode.  Ghost opened in February 2009 and has been the subject of a tide of complaints about its management and the behaviour of its customers, ever since.  Despite two meetings with residents (the second on 30th November) nearby residents in Farringdon Road, Farringdon Lane, Ray Street and Pear Tree Court told its owner David Serlui that weekends had become intolerable and that his attempts to mitigate the problems had been ineffective.  These included noisy parking and door-slamming, loud music from parked cars, broken glass, litter, customers urinating and conducting loud conversations under their windows at 4.30am.

The options open to the Licensing Committee will include revoking the licence completely, altering its conditions, removing the right to carry out some licensable activities, curtailing its hours and removing Mr Serlui as its designated premises supervisor.

I will ensure that nearby residents  have every opportunity to make their views known in the forthcoming review, and will post details of the timescale for this as soon as I can.

The Council has installed 350 new cycle racks in the last year – putting Islington streets ahead of other London Boroughs in providing safe places for people to lock their bikes. Locally, new bike stands have been put in on Clerkenwell Close, Amwell Street, Exmouth Market, Goswell Road, Myddleton Street, Hardwick Street, Green Terrace, Tysoe Street, and St. John Street.

In August 2007 there were 420 racks in Islington.  By August 2008 the council had doubled that number to 880.  Today there are over 1230 cycle racks on roads all around Islington – more than double the number than in neighbouring Labour-run Hackney.

A June 2009 report by the London Assembly found that 45% of people would cycle more if there was better cycle parking.  Research conducted by TfL showed that the availability of cycle parking and the security of parked bikes remain the two biggest cycling-related concerns.

Councillor Greg Foxsmith, Islington’s Liberal Democrat councillor responsible for transport and the environment, said:

“I cycle, and would recommend it as a great way to get around Islington.  The Liberal Democrats want to support people to take up cycling, and people need to know that they have somewhere secure to park their bike when they visit the shops, the doctor, church, or while they’re at work.

“That’s why this Liberal Democrat council has tripled the number of cycle racks on our streets in the last two years.  We’re committed to making Islington one of the most cycle-friendly boroughs in London.”

Craft Central is opening its “Made in Clerkenwell“  open house today, at Pennybank Chambers, 33 St John Square EC1M 4DS and at Cornwell House (21 Clerkenwell Green EC1R 0DX).

Craft Central - previously the Clerkenwell Green Association - has provided a home for hundreds of craft-based industries in the area for many years.  You will be able to visit up to 70 of these and buy or even commission new work from the craft person direct.  Jewellery, fashion, accessories, ceramics and other home items are all available - and cup cakes too.

There is a web site here.  Further details can be obtained from Craft Central on 020 7252 0276.  Admission is £2.50 or free for under-16s.

The event is on 26th November (5-8pm), 27th November 12.00-8.00pm and 28th-29th November 12.00-6.00pm.