Good riddance Oceana

Oceana Kingston, the most dangerous club in London, is set to close its doors for good.

Zoe Birdsall

Plastered yobs fighting, passed out clubbers and drunken girls piling into the middle of a busy road, these are just a few of the memories we’ll have of Kingston’s Oceana.

Following the stabbing and death of Jamie Sanderson, the six-nights-a-week club had its licence suspended, reinstated, and then revoked pending an appeal.

So if you venture over to that side of town at night sometime soon, the odds are you will no longer have to dodge glass, vomit, blood and spit scattered on the pavement.

Oceana did nothing but build a bad reputation and ruin nights for our town’s residents.

The murder of Jamie Sanderson is not the first horrendous knife crime to take place inside the club.

Earlier this year, another young man was stabbed five times in the smoking area.

Nightclubs like Oceana, among the largest in the UK, are obviously a hot spot for violent crime.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not some kind of club-hating bore who stays in on weekends. But I’d rather have a night in watching Countdown than venture into the unknowns of the ‘Cheese Room’.

70 per cent of Kingstonians will happily say goodbye

Only 30 per cent of Kingstonians want Oceana to stay open, according to a River survey. Kingston Council must have listened to you.

This shows that students and residents feel strongly about the venue shutting, some going as far as to suggest that it should be replaced with “something that’s not devoid of soul like the rest of Kingston”.

Most students would like to see Oceana replaced by a music venue, like Brixton Academy or Shepherd’s Bush Empire. A mini O2 or HMV Forum could really be what Kingston has been missing.

Surely it would bring in better crowds, be less hassle for the police and increase business for local shops, restaurants and pubs. Gigs are usually over by 12.30am which would beat the 4am finish of Oceana.

And how good would it be to just walk five minutes down the road to see some top bands and artists?

Oceana didn’t treat their clients the way they should have

I am not on some personal vendetta against Oceana (even if they did try and kick me out once when I was sober but they thought I was drunk because my shoes were sticking to the sea of gum that is supposed to be a carpet), but I think it’s time for a change.

Do I think it is ridiculous that my friend was not let in because his gum was suspected as cocaine? Yes.

Is it appalling that a young girl was humiliated after being turned away for walking like she was drunk, when actually she has a serious spinal disability? Absolutely.

Gone for good?

It’s looking like last orders for the UK’s largest Oceana, unless they somehow win their appeal.

The cold truth for hardcore Oceana fans is that its owners, Luminar, may be financially sinking anyway. This would see the inevitable demise of Oceana regardless of the fact they are London’s number one hot spot for crimes in clubs.

The figures say it all. A quarter of all crime in Kingston happens in and around Oceana.

Yes, we all love a cheap night on the tiles and, in fairness, Oceana gave us just that.

But just looking at Oceana Kingston’s Facebook page, with hundreds of complaints and demands for it to shut down, makes me think that the time has come to replace it with something better.

With sick, blood, spit and stabbings, Oceana’s got to go. And I’ll be the first in line to say good riddance.