The family of Gaby Hutchinson, the security guard who died during the crowd crush that occurred at the Brixton Academy in 2022, is launching legal action in a bid to "find out the truth" of what happened on that night, having so far been met by a "wall of silence" when seeking answers. Legal letters have been sent to venue operator the Academy Music Group, and its security contractors County Enforcement and AP Security.
"We will never let this rest", says Gaby's mother Christine Hutchinson. "We are determined to get answers to ensure there are learnings from this and that nobody else attending or working in a similar environment has to endure what we have over the past fourteen months".
Criticising Live Nation's AMG, she adds, "At no point since Gaby's death has anybody from Academy Music met us to discuss what happened or asked our thoughts on safety measures to be introduced to protect the public from this happening again. As a family, we are not reassured that a tragedy like this will not happen again".
AMG is yet to comment on the legal letter. Both County Enforcement and AP Security issued responses to the BBC, stating that their "thoughts remain with the deceased, their families and friends", but that it would be inappropriate to comment on the events of 15 Dec 2022 while a police investigation is still ongoing.
Both Hutchinson and concert-goer Rebecca Ikumelo died when a crowd crush occurred during a sold out Asake show at the South London venue. A third person who was injured in the incident remains in a critical condition in hospital.
A police investigation into what caused the crowd crush is ongoing. A BBC report on the incident in 2023 included allegations that security staff had been colluding with ticket touts to allow people with fake tickets into the venue, which could have put a sell out show at above capacity.
The venue has been closed ever since the crowd crush, but is now due to re-open on 19 Apr. London's Metropolitan Police wanted AMG's licence to run the venue to be revoked. However, the licensing committee of local authority Lambeth Council said the company could reopen the venue providing it met 77 conditions to ensure the safety of both concert-goers and employees.
Confirming the planned legal action, the lawyer representing the Hutchinson family, Patrick Maguire, says, "We have now initiated a civil case against those in charge of the venue and those who were operating the security arrangements on that fateful evening".
His clients, he adds, have so far faced a "wall of silence" from the venue and security operators, and they are now "seeking accountability" from those who, they believe, "failed in their duty to protect Gaby and others who were killed and injured as a result of the shambolic and chaotic security procedures in place that night".