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Nightclub owners obstructed police investigating the death of a man by deleting CCTV footage and Facebook images which could have confirmed where he was in his final hours.
Romanian Marian Stoica died when he fell down a railway embankment near Gravesend station onto live tracks before being hit by a train at around 5am on Sunday, April 7.
An inquest into his death last month heard how the 23-year-old had left a party in the early hours, and later told friends he was going to try to get into a nightclub - but there were no further reported sightings of him until he was seen "appearing drunk" and unsteady on the embankment before he fell.
Now evidence from a Gravesham council licensing panel hearing has recounted how investigating officers attempted to gain CCTV from the Grove Nightclub - but were obstructed from doing so.
Minutes from the hearing on Thursday, July 11 state: "The legal representative for North Kent Police advised he held deeper concern with regard to the wilful obstruction of police duties following the death when the police needed to retrace the victim’s steps and had approached The Grove for CCTV footage.
"The details of the North Kent Police’s dealings with The Grove and the owner, Mr Kerr were set out in the report and included the deletion of relevant CCTV footage and the taking down of the Facebook pages which may have confirmed whether the victim had visited The Grove on the night of his death. Staff training logs were also not submitted to the police as had been requested."
The CCTV footage was also requested in relation to unlicensed activity - including after-hours drinking at the nightclub - and a further police statement offered in evidence at the hearing added:"Police suspect the premises, owned by Edward Kerr and at the instruction of Edward Kerr, have deliberately deleted and destroyed CCTV evidence which could have proved the premises were conducting unauthorised licensable activity, operating after permitted hours on Sunday, April 7."
Gravesham's licensing panel heard a wider investigation into The Grove Nightclub had uncovered evidence of anti-social behaviour, excessive noise, drug-related activity, late opening and selling drinks after hours - with drink being sold on one occasion until 7.24am.
"Police suspect the premises...err, have deliberately deleted and destroyed CCTV evidence..."
The minutes of the panel hearing added: "It was therefore considered that conditions 2 and 11 of the premises licence had been breached and there was also the issue of hampering a police investigation to be taken into account.
"The panel noted the police had had many incidents relating to The Grove reported to them over the years, some of them severe, but these had not been disproportionate to other nightclubs in the area. However, The Grove was considered to be a high-risk premises because of the drug issues and after-hours activities."
The panel made the decision to revoke the club's licence with immediate effect.
A representation from Mr Kerr's solicitor Suraj Desor to the panel hearing said the nightclub owner had been proactive in trying to address noise issues, and that the venue had operated without noise complaints before nearby flats were built.
Furthermore he said Mr Kerr had offered a plan of action to address licensing issues.
The Grove Nightclub has not responded to KentOnline request for a comment.
