A Greenwich bar had its licence suspended for a month on Tuesday after police raised fears it was turning a blind eye to gang members armed with guns.
The Hayatt Lounge in Charlton was hauled before Greenwich Council last week after police called for its licence to be revoked, citing a string of recent fights at shisha bar.
The Met had also claimed that it had “very reliable” intelligence that some gang members were paying door staff bribes to allow members to bring in guns.
The venue disputed this, saying it did all it could to keep members of the public coming to the restaurant and bar safe.
On Tuesday, councillors instead suspended Hayatt’s licence for a month over the fights, and ordered it to beef up its security measures.
Among the conditions the venue must now uphold when suspension lifts is to install digital cameras at the entry to “obtain facial images of all entering the premises”.
Those attending will be required to go through metal detector units at reception, and door staff will be given a “hand-held metal detection unit” to carry out further searches of all entries.
Valid photo-ID shall also be a condition of entry.
An earlier meeting of councillors on July 26 heard of a string of fights at the shisha lounge, including a “large” brawl on June 10, in which two groups of men used shisha pipes, plates and bowls “as weapons”.
In a separate incident on June 18, a woman was reportedly hit over the head with a used bottle of Hennessy’s brandy and then slashed in the face.
Days later, a drunken patron allegedly hit another woman outside the venue, pulled off her wig, and also bit her on the breast. The venue described the fights as “isolated” and “rare” incidents.
Police said it believed staff at the venue had “lied” over a lack of internal CCTV in relation to the June 18 glassing, after they were told the CCTV’s hard drive had overheated in hot weather.
Greenwich Council’s licensing sub-committee said in their decision that they were concerned about a lack of CCTV over the June 10 and June 18 incidents and that these incidents were not recorded in a log.
They said that they believed that police had been “misled” over the availability of CCTV when officers requested it, although the venue told a hearing it was a “misunderstanding”.
Issuing a decision notice, the committee also said that the designated premises supervisor, Shiraz Kamawal, should be removed from the licence in the wake of the incidents.
The police or Hayatt Lounge can appeal the decision to the magistrates’ court within 21 days.
