Leamington nightclub has its licence revoked

The Juice Factory in Court Street was subject to a review of its licence brought about by Warwickshire Police and carried out by a panel of Warwick district councillors before Christmas.

As a result the bar’s licence was revoked with its owners having 21 days to appeal against the decision while the venue remains trading.

At the time of going to print the council had not received an appeal.

At the hearing Paul Calver, harm reduction sergeant for South Warwickshire Local Policing, produced detailed and comprehensive evidence of police incidents, crimes, statements, officers’ accounts and CCTV footage to the panel, which highlighted the scale of the problems at the venue.

Sgt Calver said: “Warwickshire Police have demonstrated that they have, with Warwick District Council, tried to work with the venue and support it through the issues, but the venue has failed to control the activity and crime which has lead to the review.

“It is of the opinion of Warwickshire Police that there are no further steps that can be taken other than to ask the licensing committee to revoke the licence of Juice Factory.”

Sgt Calver produced over 60 police incidents at the venue in a seven-month period and 30 crime reports.

CCTV evidence, provided from the camera operated by Warwick District Council outside the bar showed 12 incidents - between September 21 2013 and November 3 2013 - of people in the immediate vicinity of the premises regularly using class A drugs in plain view. 

The Panel noted that there were no other licensed premises in the vicinity and believed that it was overwhelmingly probable that the vast majority of the 
people viewed on the CCTV were customers of the bar.

Officers had arranged a meeting in October to discuss the bar’s issues but nobody from the venue turned up.