Luna Springs, a bar in Birmingham's Digbeth area, has reopened just days after a double stabbing incident led to the suspension of its premises licence. The venue, located on Lower Trinity Street, was at the centre of a licensing review following an attack on Saturday, May 9, at around 9pm, in which two men were stabbed.
Licence Suspension and Reopening
West Midlands Police requested an expedited review of the premises licence, which took place on Wednesday, May 13, before Birmingham City Council's licensing sub-committee. Superintendent Karl Thomas argued that the venue was associated with serious crime or disorder, given the stabbings occurred during licensing hours. The committee, chaired by Councillor Diane Donaldson, decided to suspend the licence as an interim measure pending a full review within 28 days.
However, the committee also stipulated that the suspension would be lifted once additional conditions proposed by Luna Springs' solicitor and agreed by police were met. Within two days, Luna Springs confirmed it had reopened after satisfying those conditions.
New Conditions Imposed
The eight additional conditions include enhanced search and entry policies, such as ID scanning for specified events, clear search procedures including pat-downs and metal detector wands, and mandatory re-searching of patrons re-entering. The licence holder must also equip SIA door staff with body-worn video cameras, maintain an incident log, implement a vulnerability policy, and provide crime scene management training for all staff within 14 days. A designated management team member must oversee security, and a monthly trading calendar must be provided to police for risk assessment.
Aston Villa Europa League Fan Park
Following the suspension, promoter 4TheFans cancelled its Europa League fan park event scheduled for the final on Wednesday, May 20. However, Luna Springs has now put its own fan zone tickets on sale. The venue posted on Facebook on Friday, stating: "We are pleased to inform all of our valued patrons that we have worked collaboratively with the authorities to assist them with their investigation and to ensure that all aspects of safety are in place for all of our events. We will be trading this weekend as normal."
In a subsequent post, Luna Springs confirmed: "The Aston Villa Fan Zone at Luna Springs will be going ahead on Wednesday 20th May. Please note that any tickets previously purchased through 4TheFans will not be valid for entry at Luna Springs." The 4TheFans event has been moved to Birmingham's Utilita Arena.
BirminghamLive has contacted West Midlands Police, Birmingham City Council, and Luna Springs for confirmation that all conditions have been met, but no official response has been received yet.
