Society nightclub licence revoked after lock-in trouble

Members of Wolverhampton Council's licensing sub-committee revoked the premises licence of Society, based in Townwell Fold, following a hearing on Monday.

The hearing was called following an incident in which police were called to Society – run by brothers Mac and Rakesh Kainth – at 8.19am on July 7.

The club, off Skinner Street behind Beatties, has been closed ever since.

Police said the disorder resulted in a man suffering a cut to his hand, criminal damage inside the venue and drinking beyond licensing hours, including out on the city centre street.

The committee heard that the venue had been reopened – hours after it had been closed as normal by Rakesh Kainth – for a private party by a third brother Ram who works as the cleaning manager.

It was being held in a third floor room which the venue said is not generally open to the public, apart from for a couple of pool tournaments held there.

But police responded to two 999 calls and were confronted with the disorder on arrival at the scene.

They said blood was found on the stairs, wall and outside while damage had been caused to a toilet and CCTV had also been removed from the venue by the brothers’ sister.

Independent licensing consultant Jake Flanagan said the incident did not constitute “serious” disorder and was a result of one man causing the injury to himself.

He added that neither Mac or Rakesh Kainth had authorised the party and that they had applied to have the premises licence transferred to a third party not connected to the family.

But barrister Rebecca Keeves, representing West Midlands Police, said they had failed to uphold licensing objectives of preventing crime and disorder, health and safety and preventing public nuisance and called for the licence to be revoked.

Back in April, a series of stringent conditions were placed on Society by licensing committee following a stabbing at the venue in the early hours of March 24.

Miss Keeves said: “This is the second time of having a review with regards to this premises, the last one being back in April.

“The premises had its opportunity at that point, the licence was modified and the police weren’t seeking a revocation at that time.

“The fact is they should have learned from the previous occasion, there should be proper checks and balances in place and in any event, it’s not just a staff member but a family member who had keys and had access.

“The relevant person had no knowledge of what was going on and I would suggest that is a failing on their part – it is their responsibility to know what is going on. It’s their responsibility to appoint appropriate and responsible people.

“Ram, being a family member, should already have been aware of the difficulties experienced by the premises and should have been on high alert to any behaviour that could cause additional problems.”

Mr Flanagan said: “We accept that this incident took place and we accept much of the police’s concerns but what we don’t accept, and no evidence has been put before the committee, is that serious disorder took place.

“What we have seen is one aggressive male with a cut to his finger, some drops of blood on the floor consistent with that cut. What you have not seen are injuries to anyone else, torn clothing, people still fighting.

“On the CCTV, people in the club said ‘something has happened, we don’t know what it is, he just switched’. It is clearly the result of the male cutting his own hand.

“Neither the designated premises supervisor or the premises licence holder were present here. It is accepted that Rakesh Kainth is seen to lock the premises up.”

Mr Flanagan added that Mac Kainth is battling serious health problems, prompting the decision to transfer the licence.

He added the family had spent more than £60,000 in Society and wanted to sub-let the venue to get some of that investment back.

But despite this and other measures being offered by Mr Flanagan – including switching the CCTV to a ‘Cloud’ based system – the committee were satisfied the club had failed to uphold licensing objectives.

The Kainths have 21 days to appeal the decision.