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Fabric closed indefinitely, pending new licence review
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 16 August 2016
London club Fabric has closed indefinitely, pending a licence review in the wake of two recent drug-related deaths at the venue.
As previously reported, last week Fabric announced that it was cancelling all of last weekend’s planned events, while a police investigation into the deaths of two eighteen year old men was ongoing. However, it has since emerged that the venue’s licence has actually been suspended at the request of the Metropolitan Police. It will be reviewed by Islington Council’s licensing sub-committee in the next month.
The council said in a statement: “The Metropolitan Police applied for an interim suspension of Fabric’s licence. Fabric agreed not to contest this application, and a licensing sub-committee has suspended Fabric’s licence. This will be followed by a review of Fabric’s licence within 28 days”.
The Met said in a statement: “Officers felt the need to act due to concerns about the safety of those attending the club because of the supply of class A drugs in the venue and the recent deaths of two young men linked to the club. London has a world renowned night-time economy and people should be able to enjoy it safely, without concerns of serious crime. The Met is committed to fully playing its part in keeping people safe”.
Last year, Fabric successfully fought off attempts by Islington Council to impose harsh new security measures on the club, including the use of sniffer dogs and ID scanning. That came as a result of an investigation launched by the council in 2014, following complaints from the police.
Having taken the local authority to court over those demands, a judge ruled that the dogs and ID scanning were not necessary. But it remains to be seen what new demands the council will make when it reviews the club’s licence this time around.
Last week Fabric said: “For the past two years Fabric has operated without incident, but tragically in the past nine weeks two eighteen year old boys have died as a consequence of drug overdoses. In order to understand how this has happened we have agreed with the police and other agencies to suspend our operation while we investigate”.
A new statement from the club is expected later this week.
