international news _ 29th November, 2006

London Club Bans Garage As Shoreditch Clubber Shot Dead

Text by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)

Kings Cross club The Scala has banned all garage music events following the recent fatal shooting of Daniel Ross on the dancefloor.

The victim’s mother this week accused Scala door staff of providing inadequate security by allowing the killers to evade metal detectors to smuggle a gun into the club, though Camden’s licensing chief Sergeant Bob Dear dismissed her claims instead praising the club’s actions both before and after the murder.

“The garage music has gone, and on high-risk nights they up their security staff to 18-25,” he told local newspaper the Camden New Journal. “Their security was reviewed and found to be very good – one of the best in London,” he added.

The Scala’s decision to ban garage came over five years after So Solid’s Neutrino dismissed links between music and violence, telling the Observer 'any club you go to that plays garage, there's always fighting, there are always shootings, but that happens at any club. It's just an excuse blaming it on the music.’

‘We (So Solid) could hold a night and play soulful garage and I guarantee you that there would be trouble there. It's all to do with people, not the music. People with enemies, people who want to rob people, whatever,” he added.

Two months later Neutrino was shot and wounded outside a club, though he was considerably luckier than Arian Arthur, 22, who was shot dead last weekend in the basement of Hoxton bar The Jam.

Press reports said the South Londoner became involved in a punch-up in the club around 5.30 on Saturday morning then was fatally shot in the stomach.

“I am hopeful that CCTV footage taken from the street will tell us more about the suspect’s identity,” investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Scott Wilson told the Standard.

“There haven’t been any nightclub shootings in this area for some time so it is rather an unusual occurrence,” he added.

"Who does this? When you go out to a nightclub you take your wallet not a gun,” the victim’s mother, Wilma Francis, 50, told the South London Press.

"Arian was just an innocent boy making his way in the world and these people have taken him away. How dare they,” she added.