METROPOLITAN POLICE DENY FABRIC CLOSURE WAS A REVENGE ‘VENDETTA’
fabric co-founder Cameron Leslie has suggested that local police and Islington Council “got us back”...
Metropolitan Police have denied their part in the closure of fabric at a hearing earlier this month (September) was a “vendetta”, following the Farringdon venue’s successful court appeal last year.
In December 2015, District Judge Allison overturned an attempt by Islington Council and local police to enforce the use of sniffer dogs and ID scans at the venue, whilst also describing the nightspot as a “beacon of best practice”.
Now, BBC Newsbeat reports that fabric co-founder Cameron Leslie has suggested that local police and Islington Council’s part in the closure of the venue was a response to last year’s ruling.
Speaking to B.Traits in a forthcoming interview on BBC Radio 1, he said, “That was the very first time we had stood up to the police and the council. Before that we had always worked very closely together.
“We said that these points were wrong and they don’t work for us. It’s not because we are being obstructive – we never have been.
“If I am honest I think we came out of that and put some noses out of joint and that is why we are here today. It is my very firm belief that it was a feeling that ‘nobody does that to us’ and they got us back.”
But Commander Nick Davies from Islington Police has denied those claims. Also speaking to BBC Radio 1, he said, “I have only been working in Islington since May, so for me to say it’s a vendetta, I don’t think so.
“I had no knowledge of Cameron [the co-founder of Fabric] before this period. But there have been two deaths on my watch, which makes me have to do something.”
Leslie gave the most educated, informed and damning defense against the case presented by police representatives at fabric’s license hearing earlier this month. Met by a huge applause from the public gallery, it pointed to how joint work with the Metropolitan Police since opening in 1999 has been showcased to other forces around the UK and problem licensees within London.
Rob McCallum is DJ Mag’s deputy digital editor. Follow him on Twitter here.
