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Flamboyant London club owner allegedly stabbed to death by son | Flamboyant London club owner allegedly stabbed to death by son |
(about 4 hours later) | |
The son of a London nightclub owner has been charged with his father’s murder in central London. | The son of a London nightclub owner has been charged with his father’s murder in central London. |
The body of David West, 70, was found at a residential address, believed to be his home, in Ormond Yard behind Jermyn Street, near Piccadilly on Friday night. A postmortem examination gave the cause of death as a single stab wound. His son, also called David West, 44, was charged with murder and will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Monday. | |
West senior was a self-styled “lord” who reportedly owned Mayfair nightclub Hey Jo and restaurant Abracadabra, which specialises in Russian cuisine. | |
He has been described as a flamboyant figure and is said to have bought the title of “lord of the manor of Hollesley” on eBay. He made his fortune selling alcohol from a Calais warehouse called Eastenders, having started in business selling flowers and groceries at Romford market. | |
Friends paid tribute to him on Facebook. Mickey Helliet said he was “absolutely gutted” at the death of his longstanding friend. | |
He said: “Life is precious and can be snatched away at any moment. I normally go to see Dave and have a couple of drinks with him in one of his clubs at Christmas. I loved going to his clubs. Really going to miss him, a real character. RIP.” | He said: “Life is precious and can be snatched away at any moment. I normally go to see Dave and have a couple of drinks with him in one of his clubs at Christmas. I loved going to his clubs. Really going to miss him, a real character. RIP.” |
Jelena Gauthier said she was “in utter disbelief”. She wrote: “RIP David West you were always such a gracious host, flamboyant man and a playful soul you will be missed by many.” | Jelena Gauthier said she was “in utter disbelief”. She wrote: “RIP David West you were always such a gracious host, flamboyant man and a playful soul you will be missed by many.” |
His own website read: “West built a family tobacco business in Belgium with his wife and children. In the 1980s Dave founded a wholesale business on a double decker bus in Calais selling cheap alcohol and cigarettes.” | |
In 2007, he made headlines when he hired Cherie Blair to lead his unsuccessful legal challenge to the smoking ban, one of her husband’s primary health policies. | |
He has been described as a longstanding critic of the ban and, speaking at the time, he told BBC Radio Five Live: “What her husband is, is one thing. | |
“She has a right to her own opinion to pursue her own job and that is to defend the working man.” | |
He told the Daily Mirror: “There is no room for manoeuvre when the ban comes in. I will be fined £2,500 each time it is breached. | |
“The only way for patrons to smoke after [the ban] is by going out on the pavement and that could land me in trouble with the police if it creates noise.” |