Manchester nightclub Vision loses licence after two knife incidents in space of just 10 weeks

A Manchester nightclub has lost its licence after two incidents which saw three of its customers stabbed just 10 weeks apart.

Vision in Whitworth Street West has been shut since the last incident on June 11.It comes after a brawl between two groups occurred at the club at around 2.30am. They were separated and the club was closed, but the fight continued outside where two men were stabbed in the street, according to Greater Manchester Police.

One man suffered ‘heavy blood loss’ from a stab wound to his leg while another man who was stabbed in the back was ‘slipping in and out of consciousness’. Both have recovered since then, the police have said.

It follows another fight over a booth inside the club on April 2 which saw a man slashed across the face, leaving him needing 30 stitches. The city centre nightclub was ordered to beef up security after the incident, but allowed to stay open.

Police were satisfied with the new security arrangements put in place following the first incident which requires door staff to use knife wands to search customers upon entry to the club. At a town hall hearing on April 28,  the council’s licensing sub-committee said it recognised the club is ‘run well’.

However, CCTV shown in private to the licensing panel at another hearing on Friday (July 7) revealed that not all customers were being searched sufficiently. Police said there is no evidence that a knife was brought into the venue on the night of the second incident in June, but said searching was not up to standard.

The footage showed knife wands were used on customers, but the search was not thorough enough and two women were allowed to walk in without being ‘wanded’, according to GMP. The club was also criticised because body-worn cameras on the bouncers were not switched on during the ‘large scale fight’.

Questions were raised by the council as to why one of the groups was allowed to leave the club while the other group was waiting by the entrance. Licensing officer Rachel Chappell said she had previously raised concerns about people passing items over the low barriers of the smoking area outside the club.

But the club said the smoking area would be enclosed with higher barriers all around it, according to the council officer. Speaking at the town hall latest hearing, the club’s owner Yongzhi Shao said people would now go through new metal detector arches when entering the venue, even from the smoking area.

He also said ID scanners would be used on customers entering the club, if it is allowed to reopen, and body-worn cameras would be on at all times. Howard, as he was called at the hearing, said he was ‘disappointed’ with his door staff.

He said: “The nightclub industry is really tough since Covid. Until now, it’s still a crisis. It’s really difficult for us. I’ve already sold my own house and borrowed a big loan to support the business. Vision nightclub is my only business, and it’s the only job for some of our staff as well. I really wish the committee can give us one more chance to trust us to prevent these things happening again.”

However, the committee were not convinced. Representing GMP, PC Alan Isherwood told the panel the police’s confidence in the club has ‘nosedived’.

He accused the club of breaching conditions on its licence by not using knife wands to search every customer and not switching on body worn cameras. He also criticised the premises for not properly recording an incident on April 23 when an off-duty member of staff was assaulted and another fight took place.

He said: “The drop-off in the way the premises appears to be operating is startling. Prior to that, issues can happen anywhere, but certainly nothing like this. And in the last 10-week period its almost gone off the edge of a cliff.”

Councillors on the panel decided to revoke the club’s licence. This means that the premises, which has operated from this site under different names since it first opened 12 years ago – including The Arch and Viva – will remain closed.