Hillrise off-licence approved amid fears of ‘drug pushers’ and violent crime

The site of the former Royal Oak pub. Image: Google

Islington Council has approved plans to open an off-licence at the site of a former pub, despite opposition from residents wary of “drug pushers” and “cheap alcohol”.

On Thursday (26 June), the Town Hall gave the green light to a new Nisa Local shop at the Elthorne Estate, which is set to sell booze from 8am to 11pm daily.

Residents had pushed back on the move, sharing fears that the shop would reignite crime and disorder which had led to the Royal Oak’s permanent closure in 2021.

“[The pub] was closed because of drug pushers selling there, and the sale of cheap alcohol late at night will attract them back into our area,” wrote one resident, who did not provide a name.

Another anonymous person living on the estate warned that affordable alcohol consumption would “fuel the area’s history of issues around crime and anti-social behaviour”.

“I’m concerned that selling alcohol will increase late-night gatherings, shouting and litter, disturbing residents’ peace,” said a different unnamed resident.

“When it was sold at this address before, it led to stabbings and death. I fear the same pattern may return.”

In 2019, Alciveadis ‘Big Al’ Mauredis was assaulted outside the Royal Oak during his 60th birthday celebrations. He died of his injuries two weeks later.

The pub’s licence was thrown into doubt in the aftermath of the fatal attack, which followed a separate violent incident four years prior, when staff did not call the police.

After temporarily suspending the owner’s booze licence following the 2019 incident, the local authority set strict conditions for the pub’s reopening.

But then came another incident in 2021, when a man was stabbed repeatedly outside the building, but staff failed to call the police and also cleaned up his blood.

At the time, PC Adam Peace said individuals had “pointedly and quite frantically made efforts – very successful efforts – to obliterate the crime scene, to clean the crime scene.”

The council forbade the venue from re-opening as a pub ever again.

Following the objections, Nisa Local representatives argued that the new shop would in fact lead to a fall in crime.

They argued that since the Royal Oak was a public house “encouraging late-night drinking and street activity,” an off-licence would remove the causes that led to previous violent episodes.

Alcohol consumption outside the shop would be “strictly prohibited” while the premises would be equipped with more than 30 “high-quality” CCTV cameras.

The council’s licensing sub-committee accepted the business’s proposed opening hours between 7am and 11pm, and granted the sale of alcohol for off-premises use from 8am until close daily.

Among other conditions, Nisa agreed to make sure managers “immediately” called the police and, where appropriate, the ambulance in the event of crime or “serious disorder” committed on the premises.

The applicant also guaranteed it would not sell any “high-strength beers, lagers and ciders above eight per cent ABV”.