Stevenage's Lounge 72 loses licence after police concerns

The cocktail bar in the Old Town opened in the summer of 2021 and has seen a list of incidents which “cover the whole gamut”, according to a sergeant.

At a meeting which lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours, Stevenage Borough Council’s licensing committee revoked the venue’s licence on Thursday, January 12, after a request from Hertfordshire Constabulary.

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Police told councillors the licensee failed to protect children from harm, prevent public nuisance, prevent crime and disorder and uphold public safety – four of the “licensing objectives”.

Evidence considered by the committee included a video from Lounge 72’s “The Chocolate Men Brunch” event on October 1 last year.

Councillors viewed the footage in private, but one video “circulated on social media” and seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service shows attendees engaging in oral sex in the venue’s outdoor area – captured during the daytime.

Lounge 72 did not have a licence for sexual entertainment.

100-person brawl in Stevenage High Street

Councillors also heard from a sergeant who described a brawl on April 16, 2022 as “the most frightening thing she has ever experienced in 30 years of policing.”

The sergeant said she and one other officer were the only two free to attend the venue.

“Hoards of people were coming out of Lounge 72 – groups of males,” she said. "My colleague and I found ourselves at the centre of the hoard.

“Around 100 people were having a fight and we had to stand back. I pressed my emergency button.

“The crowd was spilling out of Lounge 72 onto the High Street, completely out of control.”

Stevenage Borough Council has revoked Lounge 72's licence following an application by police (Image: Will Durrant)

The sergeant said officers attended on blue lights from as far away as Borehamwood, near Watford, and the crowd was approximately 150-strong at its peak.

“I identified one male who had substantial injuries to his eye,” she said.

“My understanding is that he still has significant injuries to his eye or potentially lost his sight.”

Officers at the licencing meeting said another man was left with life-changing injuries after a “stabbing within or outside” the venue on October 22 last year.

The following week, police officers reported intercepting a man carrying a knife who was turned away from the club.

Police felt as though the man tried to enter Lounge 72 to seek “retribution” for the previous week’s stabbing after he said he “had to do something about it”.

The committee also heard about an incident on November 20 last year, when a male attendee punched a woman so hard she suffered a broken jaw.

Police could not comment in more detail because the case is going through the court system.

Since the club opened, Hertfordshire Constabulary has recorded more than 50 requests to attend the bar, although Lounge 72’s legal team believes many of these would have been “locator” calls which happened nearby but were not connected with the venue.

Police logs – which include incidents that did not need a call-out – show six reports of suspected spiking, seven reports of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and three alleged rapes since July 2021.

Councillor Loraine Rossati asked whether Lounge 72 is an “outlier” compared with other Old Town venues.

“Yes,” replied a second sergeant, Chris Adshead.

“The police have lost confidence in the premises and its managers’ ability to fulfil their licence and its conditions.”

Lawyer says children could have seen ‘quasi-pornographic’ video

On “The Chocolate Men Brunch”, the police’s legal team argued sexual acts were “allowed to occur, therefore being captured on mobile phones leading to their circulation on social media, likely to be available to children.”

The solicitor for the police said: “[The videos] can be watched from Brazil to Bolivia.

“Anyone can look at that. Quasi-pornographic acts could be seen with no control from the staff. No steps were taken to stop it.”

The licensee and her solicitor asked the committee to delay the January 12 meeting, arguing that the police’s team had not disclosed sufficient evidence beforehand, and that the solicitor had been unable to read through the material.

Their appeal was dismissed and the licensee’s team declined to take part in the main hearing.

The licensee had previously provided written responses to the police’s concerns ahead of the meeting.

She said: “We have put very high measures in place from day one and increased learning along the way.”

She said the venue originally had a drug misuse prevention policy, two search wands, between six and eight accredited security staff depending on the event, 26 CCTV cameras, an ID scanner and a regular visit from voluntary “best practice” organisation Pubwatch.

After the April 16 "brawl", Lounge 72 staff met with officers at Stevenage Police Station to discuss safety improvements, and on October 1, she claimed she was unaware of sexual activity taking place at the time.

“Only after the event did we know there was a sexual act performed in the garden area by a lady customer, which no member of staff was aware of until this was published on social media,” she said.

The bar cut ties with the tour group involved on October 1.

Of the stabbing on October 22, the licensee said she and her staff tended to the injured man – something which police said was “to her credit” at the Stevenage Borough Council licensing committee hearing.

After the woman suffered a broken jaw on November 20, Lounge 72 reportedly purchased five extra CCTV cameras, stab-proof vests and gloves, and new radios.

“Lounge 72 has never had any incidents within the venue of fights, drugs or weapons,” the licensee added.

“We take all this very seriously and anyone highlighted to us for any reason is added to our ID scanner and banned for life.”

Stevenage Borough Council’s licensing committee deliberated the case in private before announcing their decision in the council chamber.

Lounge 72 has said it plans to appeal the decision, which must do within 21 days of the review.