Colour Factory nightclub where Trei Daley was fatally stabbed to have licence reviewed
Colour Factory nightclub, outside of which a man was fatally stabbed last month, is to have its licence reviewed by the council.
Trei Daley, 26, went to an event at popular nightclub, the Colour Factory in Queen’s Yard, Hackney Wick, before he and another man, 24, were knifed in the early hours of Saturday, February 11.
The two victims turned up at an East London hospital with knife wounds however Trei from Bromley, later died in hospital from a chest wound, a post-mortem examination confirmed.
Christopher Appiah-Blay, 35, was charged on Tuesday, February 14, with murder and possession of an offensive weapon and has been remanded in custody.
Mawien Mawien, 38 was charged with murder, wounding of another man and possession of a bladed article and appeared at Highbury Magistrates Court on Friday, February 24.
A trial has been set for April 2, 2024, at the Old Bailey. A third man, aged 20, was arrested on Saturday, February 18, on suspicion of murder and has been bailed to a later date in May.
The Met Police has submitted a licence review for the Colour Factory following concerns about its “current conditions and practices”.
According to an investigation conducted by the Met, it said “some of the customers going into Colour Factory have not been searched on entry or had to produce ID.
The force added: “Failing to search customers or allowing them into the venue with ID runs the very serious risk of allowing weapons and drugs into a place where they can be used, with very serious consequences.”
Police said another concern was that: “People are attending events at the Colour Factory and bringing weapons with them”. The Met added: “The investigation is still in its early stages and although the current working theory is that the suspects may have got weapons from a vehicle parked in Queens Yard this has not been confirmed and to date have had no evidence on where and where the weapons were obtained.”
It also said: “If customers are bringing weapons with them to events you are running, and the searching is inconsistent or not effective then there is a real risk of people being able to bring weapons inside the venue and serious violence taking place inside.”
On their reasoning for a licence review, officers said in a Tower Hamlets Council document: “A murder has taken place outside the venue involving customers who had been at the Colour Factory. The investigation into this tragic murder has revealed that searching and security policies are currently insufficient.”
The report continued: “This coupled with the fact that at least one customer of the Colour Factory brought a knife to the area poses an unacceptably high risk of more serious incidents taking place when the venue has ineffective security,”
Police officers have outlined interim steps the venue should follow in order to protect members of the public, including the re-training of SIA staff on searching customers and their bags prior to the Colour Factory reopening, and putting in an ID scanner, which must be used to scan photographic identification documents, as well as creating a detailed and documented security plan.
Other conditions police want the Colour Factory to follow include a record detailing all refused sales of alcohol and that if a serious assault happens on the premises, the police and London Ambulance Service (where appropriate) are called immediately and all front of house must complete welfare and vulnerability awareness training every six months.
An interim hearing was held on February 22 where Tower Hamlets Council’s licensing sub-committee decided to add conditions that had been agreed upon between the police and the licence holder until the full review hearing.
Tower Hamlets Council’s licensing sub-committee will consider the licence review at a meeting next Tuesday (March 14).
For the latest update, read about how Colour Factory has retained its license and for more of our news a story about Tower Hamlets Council and TfL on Liveable Streets.
