London's Metropolitan police have launched an investigation after a woman was injured when ticketless fans tried to break their way into a sold-out gig at London's O2 Brixton Academy. The academy, with a capacity of just under 5,000, is one of London's most popular music venues, regularly hosting big name acts, including the likes of Stormzy, The xx, Loyle Carner, Bonobo and Skunk Anansie in 2017 alone.
Unfortunately, a recent show in April had to be abandoned due to fears over crowd safety, after numerous fans of Jamaican dancehall star Alkaline tried to make their way into the venue without tickets. Footage quickly appeared on the internet showing a large number of people attempting to force their way into the concert venue through a fire escape at the rear, as security and audience members barricaded the doors.
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Credit: YouTube/dave sparx
The crowded scenes were not without consequence as a 38-year-old woman received a head injury, with police appealing for witnesses. At about 9.15pm, the woman, who had a ticket for the gig, was just inside the venue when she received a blow to the head as people surged in, police said.
Since then, the Met police have launched an appeal regarding the woman's injury, in order to try and distinguish whether she was injured in an accident or assaulted.
As the Evening Standard reports: DC Alex Fisher of Lambeth CID said: "I need to find out how this woman received her injury as we do not know if she was assaulted or struck accidentally.
"I am appealing to anyone who was at the venue, specifically anyone who was filming or taking photos around the door areas at about 9.15pm, to contact police so we can piece together the events that resulted in the victim being injured."
Alkaline, Credit: Facebook
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Fortunately, the victim was not seriously hurt and was released from hospital the same evening. However, police were forced to cordon off roads in the busy Brixton area as they tried to deal with the situation as it unfolded, while other concertgoers reported how quickly the situation became dangerous. One mother said that she, along with her daughters, had been trampled by the crowd, with one of her children suffering from an asthma attack before members of security pulled them to safety.
Speaking at the time, the woman said: "My girls are traumatised by what has happened. We came to support Alkaline and what we experienced cannot be described. It was frightening and disgraceful, and if it wasn't for that security man... only God knows."
A spokesperson for the group which runs the O2 Brixton Academy said the gig had been cancelled in the interests of safety and added: "Academy Music Group would like to thank the police and response units, staff, security and all performers, who acted swiftly and professionally to diffuse the situation outside as quickly as possible, with no issues inside the venue.
Brixton O2 Academy, Credit: PA
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"With sincere apologies to all ticket purchasers, customers are advised to please contact their point of purchase in the first instance for further information."
Since the chaotic scenes last month, the police said that no arrests had yet been made and appealed to anyone who had been at the venue to come forward with information.
A statement on Alkaline's website reads: "We apologize to all our fans who came out to see Alkaline at the O2 Brixton Academy. It was an unfortunate situation, as the artiste himself was disappointed, he was ready to perform for his fans.
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"However, as a result of failure to control the crowd, and the assessment of potential damages, the event could not go on and for this we apologize to the fans and all who were affected as a result."
Source: Evening Standard
Words: Ronan O'Shea