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CCTV cameras had been turned off at the Notting Hill restaurant where singer Rita Ora held her closed birthday party to prevent her celebrity guests from being filmed, police say.
Pray ha he apologized for his “momentum of the moment” decision to host a 30th birthday party on November 28, while the UK was in the middle of another coronavirus emergency shutdown.
At the request of security personnel, Casa Cruz’s CCTV cameras in London had been turned off on the day of the party, according to police.
Ora has previously apologized for breaking the rules.
Work is underway to try to revoke the venue’s license as a result of the event before a hearing Thursday, and details of the party emerge in a license review report.
In a statement to the council and police on December 1, Scottie Bhattarai, a staff member at the venue, said he had given the event a green light.
Mr. Bhattarai added that Ora’s team called him on his personal mobile phone around 5.30 pm on the day of the party, saying that they wanted to use the venue for “drinks and snacks.”
He said the venue was offered £ 5,000 to host the party and that because most of the staff had been suspended, he went to Casa Cruz to “facilitate the event.” He apologized for being “greedy,” his witness statement said.
Mr. Bhattarai added that the group arrived at 7 pm with around seven or eight guests, but by 9 pm there were approximately 17 people in the meeting.
Model Cara Delevingne and her sister Poppy were among those attending the party, according to police.
“The security of the entourage” did not want images of them to come through, Bhattarai told police, adding that he turned off the CCTV between 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm.
Later, Mr. Bhattarai said that the camera system was faulty and a repair had been scheduled. No payment had been made in connection with the event at the time of its statement, it added.
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Police say the CCTV hard drives had been reformatted on November 30, meaning that no images were available for the previous month.
Bhattarai did not reveal any details of the party organizer to police, the report says.
PC James Larner said in a statement that he was on duty when he and a colleague answered a call about a possible violation of lockdown rules.
Arriving shortly after 11:30 pm, they could hear music, but the windows of the place had been covered to prevent them from seeing, according to the statement.
PC Larner added that by using small spaces, they were able to see two women without a mask sitting at a table, a man by the bar, and three other women sitting at a separate table, with glasses visible in the room.
Officers knocked on the door, causing the music to stop and those inside disappeared from view, with no response from the occupants.
He said the music stopped and the attendees left meant that “it was likely that COVID-19 the regulations were knowingly violated as the occupants were unwilling to engage with the officers. “
Apologizing at the time, Ora said: “I feel particularly ashamed to know first-hand how much people have worked to combat this terrible disease and to be fully aware of the sacrifices that people and companies have made to help support us all. safe.
“Although this won’t fix it, I want to sincerely apologize.”
A representative for Cara Delevingne has been contacted for comment.
