A safety guard who has labored on the O2 Academy Brixton in London — the place two individuals died in a crowd crush at an Asake live performance final yr — has accused different guards of taking bribes to let in further individuals, in line with the BBC.

The guard, who used the pseudonym Rohan, was a part of a contracted safety group employed by AP Safety. He mentioned members of his group would permit “a few hundred” further individuals into venues in trade for money, with some allegedly making as a lot as £1,000 (about $1200) in an evening.

“Our firm knew what was occurring and so they knew the individuals who had been doing it, and so they did nothing about it,” Rohan mentioned.

Reps for the O2 Academy Brixton’s guardian firm, Academy Music Group, in addition to AP Safety, didn’t instantly return Rolling Stone’s requests for remark.

Rohan mentioned guards taking bribes to let individuals into numerous venues and occasions (not simply on the O2 Academy Brixton) was an everyday prevalence. “Whenever you let a couple of individuals in, they might textual content their pals, and so they’ll textual content their pals,” he mentioned. “And the bouncers began being grasping, and it acquired out of hand. And folks wished to come back in anyway, and not using a ticket. You possibly can practice somebody to the max, however when that occurs in entrance of you, you really cease… you freeze.”

Rohan didn’t specify whether or not he noticed guards taking bribes to let individuals within the night time of the Asake crowd crush, although he was working the entrance door that night time. “It was like being in a automotive crash that’s been actually terrible — being crashed on and stamped on,” he mentioned.

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In accordance with Rohan, a minimum of some higher-ups at AP Safety had been conscious that guards had been taking bribes, as a result of he’d been in conferences and briefings the place the difficulty was mentioned and a few alleged individuals had been even singled out. Regardless of this, Rohan claimed, he by no means noticed anybody punished or reprimanded. 

The O2 Academy Brixton has been closed because the deadly crowd crush in December. It was already planning to remain closed for a minimum of one other three months, although on Monday, Jan. 16, the Lambeth Council agreed to droop its license till April 16. 



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