'Sickening brawl' at City celeb bar sparks police demand for drinking curbs

Fall from grace: Madison, which has views of St Paul’s Cathedral

A bar popular with City workers and celebrities faces a ban on late-night drinking after police complaints of an unacceptable level of violence.

The Madison, which has terraces looking out onto St Paul’s Cathedral, has been the scene of 21 violent incidents in 16 months — including glassings, assaults and affray — according to officers who are demanding a review of its licence.

Police say the venue, which can play music and serve alcohol to up to 960 customers until 2am every day, should become a 260-seater restaurant with drink only served to those dining, and should shut at midnight.

Inspector Simon Douglas, of the City of London Police licensing team, said: “The level of violent incidents is wholly disproportionate to what we would expect of a safe and well-run venue. The number of incidents is unacceptable.”

The panoramic rooftop bar, above the One New Change shopping complex, is marketed as a “Manhattan-style haven” for City workers and has counted I’m A Celebrity winner Vicky Pattison and model Oliver Cheshire as guests.

Oliver Cheshire is among those who have frequented the bar 
Ian West/PA

It is run by D&D London, which bought it for £4.5 million in 2014 and has London venues including Quaglino’s. Mr Douglas said: “A significant factor in most of the incidents is the level of alcohol and sometimes also illegal intoxicants consumed by those involved while inside.”

He said officers had tried for more than a year to cut violence and had triggered a licence review as a last resort. Police records showed officers had been called to nine violent crimes in the summer of 2015, after which the venue agreed to bring its closing time forward to 1am. However, there were a further six alleged attacks between last February and July, including one “particularly unpleasant incident” which police say senior general manager Simon Hands admitted had “sickened him”.

Police reports of a fight last October describe how a man was punched and kicked on the floor outside the lift after leaving the bar. Officers found a man unconscious with blood coming out of his ears. When he came to he was so aggressive paramedics sedated him.

Soon after, a 20-strong crowd watched two men fighting, one of whom “appeared to be holding a knife”. When challenged, the man walked off and appeared to throw something away, which was found to be a five-inch knife. The man, who had been drinking in Madison, tested positive for cocaine.

Garry Seal, of the City’s environmental health department, said his team had also been called repeatedly to the venue after complaints of loud music.

Mr Douglas said: “A real change to the style and nature of Madison’s operation is required to ensure it focuses on a lower-risk restaurant offering.”

D&D said: “The terms of Madison’s premises licence are being reviewed by the local licensing authority following a number of incidents reported to the police and allegedly involving the premises. The restaurant is committed to co-operating with the police and the licensing authority and has put together extensive new measures to avoid such incidents.” City of London’s licensing committee is set to rule on Tuesday.

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