Met Police Requests O2 Academy Brixton Be Permanently Closed Following December Crowd Crush
26 Apr 2023
The Metropolitan police have reportedly requested the permanent closure of O2 Academy Brixton following the fatal crowd crush last December.
The Met Police have urged Lambeth council to revoke the venue’s licence following the deaths of Gabrielle Hutchinson, 23, a security worker, and mother-of-two Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, at one of Nigerian artist Asake’s shows last year.
The crowd crush which claimed the two lives also left a third person critically injured.
The Met Police said in a statement: “On Monday January 16, the licence of the O2 Academy Brixton was suspended for three months,”
“On April 14, the Met Police submitted an application for a review of (the) premises licence to Lambeth Council and will be seeking a revocation of the licence. This matter will be decided at a future council sub-committee hearing on a date to be confirmed.”
The venue initially had its licence suspended for three months a decision supported by the venues owner Academy Music Group.
A spokesperson for AMG, said: “AMG has cooperated fully with the Metropolitan police and Lambeth council since the tragedy at Brixton occurred,”
“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.”