Dalston club with ‘0% fight policy’ could be shut after repeated reports of weapons and fights
Morna Lounge in Gillett Square. Picture: Google Maps - Credit: Archant
A “jazz” lounge in Dalston could close after repeated reports of weapons and drugs at the venue – despite it claiming it has a “0% fight” policy.
Police say they have been called to Gillett Square’s Morna Jazz Lounge, also known as Morna Lounge Wine Bar, numerous times over the last 18 months.
And after requesting a review of the venue’s licence, councillors are now set to discuss its future at a town hall meeting on Tuesday.
Morna is a Caribbean club and says it “plays the best reggae and soca music every Friday and Saturday nights.”
Event promos on its Facebook page inform clubbers security is “super tight” and that there is a “mature atmosphere (0% hype 0% fight)”.
It also tells people to be on their “best behaviour” but Pc Amanda Griggs listed six instances of police being called to the venue, including one night last year when a clubber was stabbed while leaving.
In October a man was seen on CCTV waving a large knife in Kingsland High Street and then returning to the venue after a minimal search by bouncers. The same night another man left, picked up a knife, and then walked back in.
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Pc Griggs said in another incident, which happened when the venue should have been closed, a fight broke out in Gillett Square, following which a man with a knife walked into the venue without being searched. She said he was later arrested and told police he left the knife with security guards.
She added: “CCTV also shows males from the venue attacking a car and its inhabitants in the nearby car park.”
In February, a man was seen leaving the club with a gun in his waistband. “The male is arrested and in interview states he had found it and decided to take it with him to the club he was heading to as he knows there are lots of knives around,” Pc Griggs revealed in her report.
She said the review had been called because security measures at the club are “insufficient” and “wholly inadequate” and it repeatedly stays open past its closing time. Despite meetings and warning letters, bosses have not done anything to fix the problem, she said.
Morna has been contacted for comment.
