Class C drug, Khat, found at Shepherd’s Bush Sports Café

By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter

A west London café may lose its licence after police officers twice found customers in possession of khat. 

The Class C drug, which was banned in 2014, is a leafy green plant chewed by users and has similar effects to amphetamine. It is used most commonly in North Africa and on the Arabian Peninsular.

The Met have requested Hammersmith and Fulham council revokes the licence held by 97-98 Sports Café in Shepherd’s Bush, having discovered the drug on the premises twice in the past 12 months.

Samuel Tseguy, the licence holder, said the café serves as a community hub for people with backgrounds in countries like Eritrea and Egypt, likening it to ‘your local pub’. 

Mr Tseguy said he did not sell or take khat himself, and that it was not comparable to harder drugs, such as heroin. 

He said: “It’s not like something that gets you high or anything. They just do it for the sake of it in all honesty.”

In a statement submitted by PC Nicole Sondh, the two incidents in which khat was found are dated as March 22 and November 5, 2024. 

On the first occasion, the statement reports officers from the Safer Neighbourhood Team attended the café and found ‘several males grinding a green substance’. 

It states Mr Tseguy was not present, and that following an investigation conducted by officers and the subsequent arrival of Mr Tseguy, the substance was identified as khat.

PC Sondh writes it was apparent that those in possession of the drug ‘including Mr Tseguy’ were unaware it was illegal, and so officers advised on its status and confiscated the khat.

The police’s licensing team were made aware of a second incident on November 5, in which Safer Neighbourhood officers issued nine community resolutions to people in the café for possession of khat.

Mr Tseguy was again not present, the statement reads, with PC Sondh writing he “does not appear to have any control of the running of the premises”.

A separate document shows Westminster Magistrates’ Court issued a closure order on November 21, to last three months. 

Mr Tseguy said that the café is a community space, and he hopes councillors will not vote to remove his licence. 

He said:“It was not my fault, so I am like a sandwich being eaten by both sides.”

The council’s Licensing Sub-Committee is due to make a decision at a meeting next Tuesday, January 21.

Pictured top: Sports Cafe, just off Goldhawk Road in Shepherd’s Bush (Picture: LDRS)