Restaurant could lose licence after two women allegedly assaulted

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A restaurant is at risk of losing its booze licence after police claimed two women were physically and sexually assaulted at the venue after hours.

Officers claimed the incident occurred at The Palm Beach in Woolwich High Street, Greenwich, on May 18 after the women were brought to the restaurant by a group of men.

The women reportedly arrived at the restaurant shortly before 1am, after entering through the back entrance.

Police Constable Darryl Crossman said at a Greenwich council licensing review meeting on Wednesday that the women were being bought drinks by men in the basement of the restaurant.

He said: “The conversation with the females and the people in the premises went from being fun and engaging to sexual and aggressive.”

PC Crossman also said acts of physical and sexual assault then took place at the restaurant.

He said: “They started to feel uncomfortable, and at this stage, one of the females was reported being sexually touched by males on her breasts and buttocks. She describes about four or five males doing this.”

The report said that when the women attempted to leave the venue, the group of males became “aggressive”, and asked the women to pay for drinks. When the women reached the top of the stairs, a metal gate over the backdoor stopped them from leaving, police said.

Police documents claim that after a struggle, the door was opened and the women were pushed out. The report continues, saying one of the women fell in her drunken state, with a man from inside the restaurant repeatedly slamming the door on her leg in order to close it.

The other woman is claimed to have called the police shortly before 5am. The woman on the ground was said to have screamed: “I can’t move my leg, I need help.”

According to council documents, the licence holders for the Palm Beach, Mr Yomi Anyiam and his wife Bomi, left their godson in charge of managing the restaurant on May 18.

Robert Kavuma, who spoke on behalf of Mr and Mrs Anyiam at the meeting, described the time when their godson ran their restaurant as a “steep learning curve”.

He said: “Mr and Mrs Anyiam have absolutely no reason to oppose what has been reported as what happened.”

The incident took place in the basement of the restaurant, which police said was decorated as a nightclub. The drinking of alcohol was outside of the approved hours in restaurant’s licence.

A Met Police spokesman said no arrests or charges were made over the incident. They said: “No subjects were identified and the victims were unwilling to assist with the investigation.”

The decision on the licence for The Palm Beach will be decided by Greenwich council, and announced by Wednesday.

Pictured top: The Palm Beach restaurant on Woolwich High Street, where the assaults took place (Picture: Google Earth)