Walsall nightclub where 29-year-old man was fatally stabbed has licence revoked

Akeem Francis-Kerr, 29, was stabbed at Valesha's nightclub, also known locally as Colliseum, on Newport Street just after 5am on March 11 and died shortly afterwards.

Chief Superintendent Phil Dolby, of West Midlands Police, requested a premises licence summary review, on the grounds that the premises was "associated with both serious crime and serious disorder".

Reviewing it on Tuesday, Walsall Council's licensing sub-committee was invited to revoke the licence by Gary Grant, a barrister acting on behalf of West Midlands Police.

He said the premises was closed for a long period during the pandemic and reopened in December 2022, under lease to Vision Leisure which is run by Martin Bell and Valesha Andersen.

He said it had been agreed under a voluntary undertaking that no one would be allowed in after 4.30am but this was 'regularly breached', and added that it had been a 'highly problematic premises' both before and after December 2022.

The committee was told by him that there had been a long track record of the venue "being a magnet for people prone to criminality, including most worrying of all gang nominals".

And Mr Grant said there were "too many incidents of anti-social behaviour, drunkenness, violence and disorder, both under the old and new regime".

He also said that Valesha Andersen had been forced to change the company providing security staff after it was believed two members of the door team were dealing drugs in the men's toilets.

Mr Grant said on the night Mr Francis-Kerr was fatally stabbed, the venue had breached a condition relating to the search of revellers to ensure weapons were not brought into the nightclub.

He said there had also been an 'opaqueness' surrounding the identity of the licence holder, Capital Leisure.

It was thought to be Streetly Councillor Suky Samra, who sits on the council’s licensing committee, but it emerged his parents were behind the entity, with him acting as a contact for the family.

And Mr Grant said the position now put forward was that Capital Leisure was a trading name and not a formal partnership, but he argued that meant it had no power to hold a premises licence in the first place.

Further questions were raised over Councillor Samra's declaration of pecuniary interests as a councillor, but were refuted.

In response, Councillor Samra said he was "disappointed" in the police requesting the review as he had a good relationship with them and officers had raised no concerns with him previously regarding the new tenants and the venue.

He argued that the licence remained in the name of Capital Leisure so it maintained some control, but that the tenants – who were no longer on the lease – had been responsible for upholding the licensing objectives.

Councillor Samra added: "On the night of this tragic incident Valesha Andersen and Martin Bell, Vision Leisure, were in charge."

However, Mr Grant argued the licence holder could not abdicate responsibility just because they had signed a lease with a third party.

The sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licence relating to the table-dancing venue Savannah’s, which sits above Valesha’s nightclub, was also due to be reviewed by the committee on Tuesday.

But during the meeting, Councillor Samra said the SEV licence – which was also held by Capital Leisure – would be surrendered instead.

The licensing committee sat for nearly seven hours before breaking for deliberations of two and a half hours.

However, the committee refused to apologise for the length of its deliberations as "both sides" had provided "engaging and compelling arguments".