Sadiq Khan has said questions about the circumstances of the O2 Academy Brixton crush need to be answered before the venue’s reopening can be considered.
Speaking precisely six months after the crowd crush in which Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, and security worker Gaby Hutchinson, 23, were fatally injured, the mayor said the music venue’s future was a “secondary” issue, compared with the police investigation into what happened on the night.
“I think it’s important for us to remember that two people lost their lives,” said Mr Khan.
“A third person is still critically ill and in hospital. And there are still questions that demand answering about what did or didn’t happen that night at Brixton Academy.
“What I would do is amplify the appeal made by the families for anybody who was there on the night who may have recorded something on their phones, to send that information to the police.
“There is a separate discussion about the future of the Brixton Academy and that venue. I think that’s a secondary issue. The first issue is to make sure the questions that we have about the event six months ago are answered.”
Asked whether that meant the venue might never reopen, he said: “I think it’s premature to make that assessment.
“I’m somebody who in the past has been to great gigs at the academy, [and] seen great musicians perform there. I live in south London, so it’s the nearest live music venue to me.
“What we need to do is make sure we have these questions answered, because what we don’t want is lessons not to be learnt.
“But also what we don’t want is those who run the venue, those who were responsible on the night, to be able to continue to have events when there are still questions to be answered.”
The crush occurred on 15 December 2022, when concertgoers – many of them thought to be ticketless – tried to force their way into a sold-out gig by Nigerian Afrobeats artist Asake.
The venue’s licence was suspended by Lambeth councillors. The Met Police is urging the council to permanently close it, but an online petition to save the academy has surpassed 113,000 signatures.
Campaign grows to save Brixton Academy from permanent closure after concert crush deaths
Brixton Academy’s operator, the Academy Music Group, which hopes the venue can reopen despite the Met’s opposition, has previously said it was “devastated” about the deaths and that it had “engaged collaboratively” with both Lambeth Council and the Metropolitan Police since the crush.
The Met has revealed a criminal investigation is being conducted involving a range of potential allegations including corporate manslaughter, criminal negligence manslaughter, unlawful act manslaughter and health and safety at work offences along with violent disorder and assault.
