Met Police requests permanent closure of O2 Brixton Academy following December crowd crush

The Met Police has requested permanent closure of London’s Brixton O2 Academy, saying that it had “lost confidence” in operator the Academy Music Group (AMG) following a deadly crowd crush at the venue in December.

In a submission to Lambeth Council dated April 17, the police force requested that the venue be stripped of its licence completely.

It follows a crowd crush at an Asake concert at the venue in December, which left security worker Gabrielle Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, dead as well as a third person critically injured.

A decision on its license has yet to have been made and will be discussed at the next meeting of a council sub-committee, with the next one due to be held on May 15, although the date for the decision on Brixton Academy’s license is yet to be confirmed.

AMG has also submitted its own application for a change to its license, which would keep the venue open if successful.

More detail to follow.

Isaac Muk is Mixmag’s Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter