Published: 02 February 2012
by RICHARD OSLEY

STAFF at ITN news agency are among neighbours of a Holborn bar calling for it to escape sanctions to its licence following a disturbance on New Year’s Eve.

Clerkenwell House wine bar, in Hatton Wall, has been closed since the start of the year after a fatal shooting in the area was linked to a disagreement inside the venue earlier in the evening.

Full details of the case cannot been published at this stage due to legal proceedings.

Councillors tonight (Thursday) are due to discuss whether the bar’s licence should be altered or removed following a request by Camden police to review the conditions.

Ahead of the meeting, neighbouring businesses, including jewellers in Hatton Garden, law firms and the ITN news network have written letters in praise of the venue.

Marie O’Reilly, office manager at ITN Productions, told the licence holder: “I’m very sad to hear that there’s a possibility your bar may be closed down.

“Our party of 80 people had a great time before Christmas... We felt very safe there, which was helped by security staff on the door who ensured no unwelcome guests came in.”

And staff at tax law specialist CMS Cameron McKenna said: “We had a lot of single ladies leaving the venue after our Christmas party and it was an unexpected surprise to find you had male staff in attendance at the door ready to get taxis to take the ladies home or to the nearest station.”

Police called for the review after investigating security at the bar on New Year’s Eve.

The application has been filed in the name of Superintendent Raj Kohli, one of the most senior officers in Camden.

The paperwork says: “Due to the ongoing and serious nature of the investigation certain intelligence details and lines of inquiry cannot be disclosed for fear of hindering the investigation.

Police therefore request the right to submit further evidence as and when it is deemed safe to do so.”

Residents living nearby have written letters for and against the bar keeping its late licence.

Through its lawyers, the bar has told the Town Hall: “Our client would wish to stress that this was an isolated incident and is not at all reflective of the way the premises have been run or reflective of the events that have taken place at Clerkenwell House.”

A statement said that manager Dan Mbaye “closed the premises on the night and since then our client as licence holder has voluntarily kept the premises closed to avoid the risk of any incident of reprisals as there was a possible risk.

“He has had to cancel private bookings accepted months in advance and staff have been laid off.

He has taken the opportunity to review what happened on the night and to liaise fully with police regarding the way the licence will operate in the future.”

A panel of three councillors is due to decide the bar’s fate.