A 21-year-old was stabbed twice in the thigh at one of London’s best-known dance venues, and a 24-year-old man is due before magistrates on Monday
A 24-year-old man has been charged with grievous bodily harm after a man was stabbed at Studio 338, the nightclub on the Greenwich Peninsula, on Friday night. The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Boord Street on 30 October and that the 21-year-old victim was taken to hospital with wounds to his thigh. His condition has been described as non-life-changing. Immanuel Francis-Gordon, from Croydon, was arrested within hours and charged the following day. He is due to appear at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Monday 2 November.
What the police have said
A Met spokeswoman said officers investigating the stabbing had charged a man with grievous bodily harm. She said Mr Francis-Gordon, 24, was arrested within hours of the assault and charged on Saturday 31 October. She added that the victim “was stabbed twice in the thigh and was taken to hospital where his condition was confirmed to be non-life changing”.
The force has not said what time the attack happened, what led to it, or whether anyone else is being sought. A charge is not a finding of guilt, and Mr Francis-Gordon is presumed innocent unless and until a court decides otherwise.
Reports of an evacuation
The incident is understood to have taken place during a Halloween-themed event at the venue. It was listed on the Skiddle ticketing site as a drum-and-bass night celebrating 20 years of the Low Down Deep label. The listing said it would run from 9pm on Friday until 5am on Saturday, with entry limited to over-18s who could show photo identification. No one connected with the event, including the performers and promoters, has been linked to the attack.
The local news site London Streets reported on Sunday that the stabbing happened on the dancefloor. It also said clubgoers shared social media footage of people leaving the building in large numbers afterwards. The Met’s statement does not say where in the venue the attack took place or whether the club was evacuated, and neither detail has been independently confirmed. London Streets did not give a figure for how many people left.
Studio 338 has been contacted for comment.
The venue
Studio 338 is among the capital’s busiest nightclubs. It has one of the largest terraced arenas in Europe, and music venue directory TechnoBeats lists a capacity of around 3,000 across several zones, including a glass-enclosed terrace, a garden and a retractable roof. That figure is the venue’s listed capacity, not the number of people who attended on Friday.
A second Halloween event, Release Halloween, was advertised for Saturday 31 October, running from 7pm until 6am. Its listing set out entry conditions including photo ID, and a ban on imitation weapons and full-face masks. Those rules were published in advance, not introduced after the stabbing. The listing was still online after the incident, but that does not confirm the event went ahead or whether security arrangements changed.
What happens next
Mr Francis-Gordon’s first hearing is expected to be brief. Serious assault charges of this kind are usually sent from a magistrates’ court to the Crown Court for trial or sentence. Anyone with information about the incident can contact the Metropolitan Police.
