Ex-Atomic Kitten Natasha Hamilton ‘gobsmacked’ after stabbing attack shuts
her club
Sep 11 2008 by Ben Rossington, Liverpool Echo



A CLUB owned by former Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton has been shut by
police because of a stabbing and its gangster clientele.

H, on Victoria Street in Liverpool city centre, opened last November and became
one of the places to be seen for local celebs.

But according to police it has attracted several of the city’s most
high-profile gangsters and known gun criminals in recent months.

In the early hours of Monday, two Speke men were knifed in the arms and legs
inside the club. Both admitted themselves to hospital but refused to help
police, fuelling fears of reprisal attacks.

At a specially arranged meeting of the council’s licensing and gambling
sub-committee yesterday, a panel suspended H’s premises license with immediate
effect. The club has already launched an appeal.

At the hearing, PC Stuart Moore from the police licensing team told of how two
warring factions, believed to be from Toxteth and Speke, were regulars in H.

Many of them, PC Moore said, had been served with gun crime notices by the
police Matrix team to known gun criminals, and were under almost constant
surveillance by the force.

PC Moore said: “Several gun crime nominals have been seen in the premises and
are known to be active in criminality in the city. At a meeting with the
directors in August, we voiced concern about the calibre of clientele and that
some of the characters frequenting the club have the capacity to carry lethal
weapons.”

Since then, a metal detecting wand was brought in for doorstaff on Fridays and
Saturdays, but a suggestion the wand be used every night with more security was
rejected by the panel.

If the appeal, due to be heard tomorrow, is unsuccessful, H will have to stay
shut until a full licensing review later this year.

Karl Barry, independent licensing consultant acting for the club, said: “I
feel this is a politically motivated decision with regards to knife-related
crime nationally. We feel the decision is disproportionate to the history of the
premises and will defend it vigorously.”

Other stabbings occurred at Magnet on Hardman Street, and Mood on Concert
Square, on Sunday.

City centre chief inspector John Hogan said: “We will not only target violent
offenders on the streets and in their homes but the licensed premises which they
frequent.

A “gobs- macked” Natasha, recording new material in New York, said: “Since
we opened the bar there has not been a single incident of violence or disorder
and the atmosphere we have generated has been fantastic.”

benrossington@...


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