‘We’ll appeal Hackney Council decision’ says manager of The Dolphin
The Dolphin in Mare Street. Photograph: Ella Jessel
Iconic late night hangout The Dolphin plans to appeal Hackney Council’s decision to slash its hours after police branded the Mare Street venue a crime hotspot.
The 150-year-old pub faces having to close at 1.30am at the latest after the Town Hall’s licensing committee resolved to amend its licence.
However, licensing law allows The Dolphin to remain open during its original hours until the appeal is heard – meaning it is still allowed to stay open until as late as 4.30am on some nights.
The appeal is likely to be heard in Thames Magistrates’ Court later this year.
The pub’s manager Kay Underdown said: “The support we’ve had from all our customers has been touching.”
She said that if The Dolphin does not win at appeal, she could have to lay off as many as 30 members of staff.
At this week’s licensing hearing Sgt Guy Hicks from Hackney Police said longer hours meant “more drunkenness and more targets for crime”.
He said police figures showed a total of 160 crimes had been recorded at the Mare Street venue between 2010 and 2013 and added that this was “disproportionately high” compared with other venues in the area.
Though Sgt Hicks praised staff including manager Kay Underdown for taking steps to beef up safety, he said “drunkenness” of customers played a major part in allowing “very, very organised criminal gangs” to steal property.
Lawyer Rachel Kapila, representing Dolphin licence holder Yasar Yildiz told the meeting a reduction in crime could be achieved using “less draconian methods” than cutting the pub’s hours.
I’ve never gone to The Dolphin, but I can’t help but feel more than a small deal of irritation towards both Hackney Council and The Met. Yes, it’s open late. Surprise, crime often happens late at night! Yet, despite the management going to quite great lengths to protect patrons (How frequently do you see free coat checks?), Council seems hell-bent on pushing this through. The whole thing has left a fairly foul taste.
Erm, the Council probably IS hell bent on pushing this through after that whole being elected thing. You know, all those Hackney citizens who voted for their councillors to take exactly this type of action when a licensee is repeatedly warned to shape up or ship out.
Thems is kinda the breaks for a late night license.
But I guess the hipster zeitgeist now demands a firm “screw you” to the 100’s of the Dolphin’s neighbours who might have to go to work the morning after a 430am closing…
does it continue to serve late while the appeal is waiting to be heard or do the new conditions kick in straight away ?
I want to know how many of the reported ‘thefts’ have been traced back to the Dolphin. I suspect the majority are people losing their electronics elsewhere then reporting them ‘stolen’ at the Dolphin so they can claim for replacements on insurance. It is the same story all over London. If this number traced back is low or even zero then this showed the data used to make this decision is flawed and the decision should be overturned.