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Sunday, April 26, 2026

Brixton Academy security guards 'took bribes to let in hundreds more ... - Evening Standard

Mother-of-two Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, and security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, died in hospital after a crush at the venue in December.

They were at the Academy for a gig by Afro pop star Asake where witnesses described hundreds of people trying to get into the show despite the venue already being packed.

A whistleblower has told the BBC’s File on Four that some members of his team would each allow “a couple of hundred” extra people into venues in exchange for money on a regular basis. The guard claimed: “There were people taking money... some staff made 1,000 cash.”

He said someone wanting to get into a gig without a ticket would speak to security staff by the barriers controlling the queue of people waiting to get in.

Cash would be handed over “round the corner” and then a security guard would “walk you straight in the front door,” he alleged. The guard, who did not want to be named, said taking bribes also took place at other venues, stadiums and festivals where he had worked. The amount of money handed over depended on who was playing. The whistleblower was working on the front doors at Brixton Academy when the fatal crush happened on December 15.

He told File on Four: “It was like being in a car crash that’s been really awful — being crashed on and stamped on.

“When you let a few people in, they would text their friends, and they’ll text their friends.

“And the bouncers started being greedy, and it got out of hand. And people wanted to come in anyway, without a...



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