Park Royal Shisha Lounge Loses Licence After Stabbing

A shisha lounge in Park Royal has had its licence revoked by Ealing Council following a brawl that led to a man being stabbed ‘four times’. Cervo Lounge in Park Royal had its licence suspended on 24 January, however the venue will now close permanently.

The incident took place at approximately 1:50am on Monday 20 January . It is alleged that the victim approached the bar and following a small interaction, another individual pulled the victim to the ground by his neck and a brawl broke out.

Allegedly, it is at this point that ‘a large scale fight’ took place, with individuals picking up shisha poles and other items to use as weapons. It is estimated that 20 people were involved in the fight, with glasses and chairs also being used as weapons.

At some point during the fighting, the victim was ‘pushed to the floor and stamped on’, before allegedly being stabbed in the shoulder four times. He also suffered ‘slices’ and ‘puncture wounds’ to his fingers, suggesting a knife had been used.

He was taken to hospital where the injuries were determined not to be life threatening. Since the incident, the victim has refused to give a statement or partake in any police inquiries, something the police describe as ‘a matter of some concern’. Despite being warned by attending officers to preserve the crime scene, venue staff began ‘clearing up’.

Mr James Rankin, a barrister for the Metropolitan Police told the Ealing Council licensing subcommittee that this is not the only violent incident to take place at Cervo Lounge. Between June 2024 and January 2025, five incidents including this stabbing took place. All of these cases were ‘assault’ containing weapons, all taking place in the shisha lounge area.

The venue itself had also been served enforcement notice by the council in May 2023. It was discovered by planning officers that the operators had converted space into a shisha area without ‘change of use’ planning permission.

The operators appealed this notice and were subsequently denied their appeal. The venue was then given three months to cease operating as a restaurant or shisha lounge.

Operators were told to remove wooden cladding and decking areas to restore the venue to its condition prior to the ‘unlawful’ conversion to a shisha lounge. However, each of the violent incidents that took place from June 2024 took place in the shisha area of the venue.

In a licensing hearing in January, the operators claimed they would ‘voluntarily’ give up their license. However, by Wednesday (February 19) this hadn’t happened. Notably, no representation was made by anyone involved with the running of the venue at the licensing subcommittee.

Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter