Northampton nightclub's licence suspended after sex assault and drug claims by police

Passion has had its licence suspended for three months, but the owners can appeal the decision

Northamptonshire Police asked Northampton Borough Council’s licensing sub-committee to review the premises licence due to the number of times the force had been called to the Sheep Street club in recent months.

This included on July 15 last year, when the force investigated two sexual assaults on girls aged 17 and 18, who had entered the nightclub without being asked for ID despite looking ‘very young’. They befriended male customers and left in their company.

The police say it showed ‘a lack of management direction when it comes to performing ID checks’.

One month prior to this, police had been called after hundreds of customers left the venue with no dispersal plan, with ‘no action or support from staff’ as chaos unfolded. One man was arrested and charged with assault on a female.

In documents seen by the councillors on the committee, PC Chris Stevens says: “The police believe that a review is necessary in order to establish who is legally responsible for the premises. It is clear that whoever is currently responsible for it is undermining licensing objectives and that measures need to be put in place in the form of conditions to ensure that the management practices are fit for purpose.”

Two other visits to the club had seen staff show an ‘anti-police attitude’ according to written evidence from officers, and on one occasion it was ‘very clear’ that the use of class B drug cannabis was taking place within the venue.

The licensing sub-committee, which met on Thursday morning (February 21) at The Guildhall, decided to suspend the premises licence for a period of three months and impose a series of conditions recommended by the police.

The licence holder has been given 21 days to appeal the decision.