Karma running out of legal options

Chippenham's Karma nightclub had its license taken away by Wiltshire Council in May 2010. A two-day hearing concluded that the club had not kept to the terms of its license, and that there was an excessive amount of disorderly behaviour coming from the clientele caused by a lax policy on alcohol consumption and supervision of customers.

The closure did not take effect immediately as the club submitted an appeal to the magistrates court. That court hearing took place in October 2011 and the magistrates upheld the council's decision.

The Court stated they had accepted there had been some improvement at the club since the review decision in May, but this was insufficient to have a substantial impact on the licensing objectives. The Court had considered the other options available to it, such as the imposition of further licence conditions, but they did not feel these would have any significant effect.

The original review was instigated by Wiltshire police who specifically asked for the license to be revoked. A previous hearing in August 2009 gave Karma a series of conditions to fulfil and time to put the club on a good management footing. However the May 2010 hearing was told by witnesses that the conditions had not been kept in full and the problems at the club had continued through the winter.

The latest news is that the Administrative Court have refused Karma's application for permission to judicially review the decision of the Magistrates' court to revoke their licence. This decision was made by the Court without a hearing. Under the court rules, Karma have seven days, from receipt of the notification of refusal, to request a reconsideration of this decision at a hearing.