A Kensington nightclub which had its licence revoked after three people were stabbed last month has had its suspension upheld.
The decision came after an investigation found numerous breaches of Jako nightclub’s licence including failure to check IDs and concern over the welfare of female customers.
Jako nightclub, which describes itself as “known for it’s reputation for fine dining and late night entertainment”, had its licence withdrawn after a triple stabbing outside the premises on January 9.
Two emergency services were also injured.
After the triple stabbing outside the premises, a fight between 15 to 20 people who had attended the nightclub took place around the corner in Kensington Court.
The committee heard how the club-goers were “assaulting each other with belts”.
The London Ambulance Service and police attended the scene.
Jako nightclub’s licence was suspended by the council’s licensing sub-committee with immediate effect during a interim hearing on January 14.
The committee heard evidence that people had been allowed into the nightclub after 1am, as well as failures to check all IDs and scan everyone entering the premises.
It was agreed that these were not isolated incidents.
“Customers had been injured and there had been other fights at the Premises on December 4, 2020, August 28, 2021, September 17, 2021 and December 6, 2021 and the incident on January 9, 2022 represented an escalation of the serious incidents of crime which had been occurring,” the sub-committee said.
Concerns were also raised about the vulnerability of young female customers after the committee saw CCTV evidence showing club goers throwing up, slumped on the floor and being taken to hospital.
A council worker said the situation was the worst she had seen in 16 years of licensing venues.
“This is unacceptable and the Committee considers the safety and vulnerability of female customers must be at the forefront of any licensing operator,” it said in its ruling.
“The situation was so bad that the investigating Licensing Officer stated that having carried out visits to licensed premises for over 16 years, she had not ‘seen such high levels of intoxication and lack of duty of care in all those years’. This clearly undermines the public safety licensing objective.”
The sub-committee were also shown CCTV footage of possible drug rolling and drug smoking in the outdoor area of the club, and there was evidence of local residents suffering nuisance as a result of music escaping into their homes over a long period despite some remedial action having been taken.
Police had previously worked with the club owners to take remedial action and the council appreciated that the club was operating in difficult circumstances due to the pandemic.
Despite discussing alternative solutions to revoking the club’s licence, including shutting at an earlier hour, it was concluded that “the numerous incidences of crime and disorder and public safety were so grave that it could not risk a repetition of those events occurring in future”.
“The licence is therefore revoked and the suspension must remain in place,” the ruling said.
Councillor Sof McVeigh, chair of the licensing sub-committee, said: “The violence that spilled out of Jako earlier this year was completely unacceptable.
“It was also not an isolated incident and happened despite the Council and police working tirelessly with the premises to help it address its issues.
“Revoking a licence is always a last resort, but our priority is to protect those wanting a safe night out in our borough as well as those living nearby.”
Jako has been contacted for a comment.
