A series of violent incidents at the Kukui nightclub have led the council to impose more stringent licensing conditions on the club.
Police ordered a licence review of the club after 22 crimes were reported in just six months, including two “glassing” attacks in November.
The Oxford City Council’s licensing sub-committee enforced conditions including replacing drinking glasses with plastic ones, increasing the number of door staff to seven every night and improving cloakroom security.
The Council also ordered club managers to establish a search and queue management policy, set up an incident log book, train staff to deal with drunk or underage clubbers and ensure all security staff wear high-visibility jackets.
The Council refused the police’s request to reduce the club’s capacity from 700 to 550, during a hearing at the Town Hall on Thursday.
Committee chairman John Goddard said, “this new management has, for whatever reason, got off to a bad start.”
“We, as the licensing authority, do not want any repetition of this record of incidents over the last few months. Incidents of glassings are extremely damaging not only to the reputation of the premises but the individuals concerned. They will be scarred for life and it is entirely unacceptable.”
In January, the police were called after 100 clubgoers attempted to surge into the club.
The hearing was told that an emergency radio link to police used by Kukui was stolen last year and not reported.
The licensing co-ordinator for Oxfordshire Police, Tony Cope, said, “we hope the improvements will help the premises stay out of the limelight and settle down to what they should be doing.”
“It has always been a case of working together to get to a situation where incidents are minimal and it is a safe place where people can enjoy themselves.”
However, Stuart Kerley, the manager of Kukui denied the club had experienced numerous violent incidents and said the alleged reports of theft were actually cases of lost property.
He added, “this has painted a very wrong picture of the premises and what we are trying to do. We have massive complimentary national press coverage and a management team with 50 or 60 years’ experience. The perception painted is very wrong.”
Several students have expressed support for the new licensing conditions.
Jerome Mayaud, a Worcester first-year student said, “The conditions are a good move towards unruly behaviour which actually just ruins a night out.”
Elen Roberts, a St-Anne’s student said, “to be honest I never found Kukui very ‘violent’ when I went there. However if the number of violent incidents are really that high, then the council is wise to enforce security measures.”
The manager has 21 days to appeal against the new licensing conditions.
