Nightclub loses licence after drugs death

A POPULAR Birmingham nightclub will close for good after having its licence revoked.

Licensing sub-committee bosses at Birmingham City Council said they were left with no alternative but to revoke the licence of Rainbow Venues, based on Lower Trinity Street, Digbeth, at an expedited review hearing on Tuesday.

Student Michael Trueman, 19, was understood to have taken MDMA at the Rainbow Venue, off Lower Trinity Street in Digbeth, at a Halloween event.

He died in hospital the next day.

The tragedy was the second drug-related death in two years at the nightspot.

Dylan Booth died after taking ecstasy at the club at a New Year party in 2015. He was just 18.

Pc Abdool Rohomon, representing West Midlands Police, said evidence had also been presented to police via social media avenue Snapchat showing a 15-year-old boy as “high as a kite” at the Rainbow venue during the Halloween party weekend.

He said: “We have no option but to call for Rainbow’s licence to be revoked. This is the second drug related death at the venue in two years and we have evidence that a 15-year-old boy has been admitted to the venue.

“There are around 3,000 licensed premises in Birmingham and this is the only venue which has suffered drug related deaths. The most stringent measures are in place yet drugs are still being consumed inside the venue.”

Mr Matthew Phipps, legal representative representing Rainbow, denied the 15-year-old boy had been at the venue.