Kensington: West London nightclub Ricco shut down after gun fight loses licence

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A West London nightclub which was temporarily shut down after a shooting allegedly took place has lost its licence.

Kensington and Chelsea Council said it was “appropriate and proportionate” to revoke Ricco Lounge and Club’s operating licence after a gun battle erupted outside the Kensington venue in October.

Ricco’s said it “fundamentally disagrees” with the decision and will be lodging an appeal. It comes weeks after Kensington and Chelsea Council ordered the venue to temporarily shut while it considered an application to revoke its licence by the Metropolitan Police.

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The Local Democracy Reporting Service previously said health and safety officer David Nevitte said he had to crouch behind a car while shots were fired outside the club on October 13. He described how he was caught up in what is believed to have been a gun battle between rival groups, as he watched customers arrive at and leave the venue in the early hours.

Ricco Lounge and Bar (pictured) has lost its licence - but it plans to appealRicco Lounge and Bar (pictured) has lost its licence - but it plans to appeal
Ricco Lounge and Bar (pictured) has lost its licence - but it plans to appeal | Google/LDRS

At the time, the Met Police said it was investigating after a fight led to "the discharge of multiple firearms by multiple people".

Revoking the licence, councillors said it was “more by luck than judgement” that no one had been killed or seriously injured during the gun fight.

The committee said all the suspects had been inside the premises before the incident. One has been charged while the others are still at large. Because a police investigation is still ongoing, councillors were not given CCTV footage of the incident to review.

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In a redacted version of the decision letter shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council’s licensing committee said no reduction in hours or change to conditions would be sufficient to address their fundamental concerns about the club. Councillors met behind closed doors earlier this week to discuss the review.

They found the new sole director of the company running Ricco’s had no experience managing full-time nightclubs and could be “easily replaced” by the majority shareholder, who happens to be the current licence holder.

They also sided with police who said the same people who had managed Jako’s – a West London nightclub shut in February 2022 following a triple stabbing – had also been running Ricco’s. The committee said Ricco’s had committed “serious failings” which were “totally unacceptable”.

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The letter read: “The management failed to scan all customers; failed to search all customers adequately; failed to use sufficient metal detecting wands and Body Worn Video cameras; the inadequate counting of guests attending the Premises, not adhering to their own dress code, etc; they failed to obtain a guest list of the party attendees and there was no evidence that the birthday party taking place on the night in question had been properly risk assessed as a competent management team would be expected to do.”

Councillors were also very concerned that no-one from Ricco’s had alerted the police about the alleged presence of a firearm until four days after the incident, despite receiving a tip-off hours before the incident happened. They said had the Met been aware when Ricco’s staff were “it is highly unlikely that the incident would have occurred”.

The committee outlined in the decision its grounds for revoking the licence under licensing objectives.

Ricco’s had proposed keeping the venue shut for three months to allow for a new management team and a new security team to be identified and trained. It also proposed to reduce opening hours from 2am to 1am most nights.

Ricco’s has 21 days to appeal the decision.

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