Birmingham nightclub keeps licence despite ‘Radio 1Xtra stabbing’

Stories nightclub on Ladywell Walk, which only began trading 14 months ago, will now have to adhere to a strict set of guidelines following a decision by Birmingham City Council’s licensing committee.

The decision comes after a man was stabbed following a mass brawl at the venue in early October, during an "unofficial after party" for the BBC event which took place the same evening.

The Radio 1Xtra event at Arena Birmingham was halted by police after one of the performers, Krept, was allegedly stabbed backstage on October 5.

Police believe that the man attacked at Stories was also a performer from the event, and that the stabbing could have been in "retaliation" for the earlier attack.

Several attendees from the event are thought to have gone on to the party, including some of the artists.

The committee heard how the victim of the attack went to hospital shortly after it occurred, with the injury described as being ‘1cm’ away from a main artery.

The incident is currently the subject of an attempted murder inquiry.

Presenting evidence to the committee, West Midlands Police described how they felt that the venue had not adhered to the licensing objectives, saying that two groups, one consisting of between "20-30 males" and including grime artist Kano, had been allowed access to the venue via a side-door and without being searched.

The nightclub says that all members of the group were searched, however there was no CCTV available to support their claim.

The nightclub insisted it did everything within its power to avoid any incidents taking place on the evening, including cancelling the booking of a group which had been involved in a large-scale disturbance earlier this year.

It also claims that the wound on the back of the neck of the victim was caused by a rope pole, not a knife, something which West Midlands Police strenuously deny.

During the six-hour long hearing the committee was shown CCTV of the incident, which saw a mass brawl break out in the club following an altercation between two women.

Stories argued that it responded appropriately, adding that it was an isolated incident and not gang-related, as the police had claimed. It also claimed that it had been fully cooperative with the review process and had suggested several remedies to make sure a similar situation did not reoccur, something which tit says was not reflected by the police.

In his closing argument, representative for the club Leo Charalambides said it was the duty of the licensing committee to find solutions to the issues presented, not to simply take away the club’s licence.

Summing up at the end of the meeting, chair of the subcommittee Councillor Mike Leddy said: “Having reviewed the premises licence this subcommittee hereby determines that the conditions of the premises licence be modified as follows: CCTV cameras shall be installed and operated at every entrance, with a minimum of two cameras at each entrance, all bottles supplied to customers shall be tethered to the table at all times, until removed by staff, ID scanners shall be installed and operated at every entrance at all times, a knife arch will be installed and operated at every entrance, through which all patrons shall pass when entering the premises, a minimum of six security staff shall wear and operate body cameras at all times, and the premises shall follow all police instructions relating to retention and disclosure of footage.