A York restaurant and karaoke bar where a teenager alleged her drink was spiked has been stripped of its licence.
Councillors decided to revoke Sky Blue restaurant’s licence after the police said they did not trust the operator to follow the rules “when no one is looking over their shoulder.”
Under Sky Blue’s previous name, the Regency, it lost its licence after it was discovered that people working there illegally were being paid as little as £2 an hour.
Officers visited the venue in Barbican Road in January of this year after a 16-year-old girl claimed she was spiked on a night out.
She told police she felt sober until she got in a car to go home.
“I tried to speak to my friend but my jaw locked and I couldn’t speak,” she said in her police statement. “I tapped her on the shoulder and she told her boyfriend to stop the car.
“My friend said my jaw was swinging and my eyes were all over the place. I can’t remember anything else.”
A drug test from a chemist the following day came up positive for benzodiazepines, according to her statement.
Officers investigating the incident had “significant difficulties” in obtaining CCTV footage.
A hard drive was later seized but the footage had been recorded over and some cameras were not working, according to Kayley Scaife, who was representing the police at the licensing hearing.
The officer investigating the alleged spiking said she was unable to progress with a criminal investigation as a result.
Since then, police said they had uncovered several breaches of the premises licence, including ongoing issues with the CCTV.
The licence holder, Kheng Chooi Koay, accepted a police caution for breaking licensing laws earlier this year.
“On a prearranged visit to the premises two days later, outstanding breaches had not been rectified and further breaches were detected, which is beyond belief,” Ms Scaife added.
In 2018, Mr Koay, then owner of Mr Happy in Blossom Street, pleaded guilty to breaching fire regulations.
Calling for Sky Blue’s licence to be revoked, North Yorkshire Police sergeant Jackie Booth said: “The police do not trust that this operator will abide by the licence and the law when no one is looking over their shoulder.”
Mr Koay’s representative, Duncan Craig, admitted there had been “issues”, but called for the licence to be suspended rather than revoked.
“What you do have since January is an improving picture of compliance at the premises,” he added.
Mr Koay promised to do his “very best” to comply with his licence, but councillors decided to revoke it following private deliberations.
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