The mother of a student crushed in a nightclub stampede today said she fears her death was “in vain” after prosecutors decided not to bring charges against the venue’s owner.
Laurene-Danielle Jackson, 19, of East Acton, was at the Lava & Ignite nightclub in Northampton with Nabila Nanfuka, 22, of Neasden, who was also killed.
An announcement that coaches outside the nightclub were leaving and that party-goers could be left behind sparked a rush for the exit.
It has been suggested a fire alarm also went off leading to a further crowd surge at the Wickedest Wickedest club night on October 18, 2011.
Northamptonshire police and Health and Safety officers investigated to assess whether the club’s general manager caused an offence of gross negligence manslaughter.
But a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service today said there was insufficient evidence for a successful prosecution.
Miss Nanfuka was a leisure and tourism student at the University of Northampton and Miss Jackson was studying psychology and criminology at Kingston University. She died from her injuries in hospital three weeks after the stampede.
Miss Jackson’s mother, Angela Ferdinand, 42, said: “Nothing that is said or done will bring our Danni back, but with the response of the CPS report it is as if our loved one died in vain. At the moment I am just feeling numbness. I don’t have words.
“As a family we feel that there was evidently gross negligence… Someone needs to be held accountable.”
The case has now been passed to a coroner’s court. A report found there were more security than usual working at the club and they closed the doors when it reached full capacity.
Dan Jones, of the CPS special crime division, said: “After carefully examining the evidence in this case, including accounts from eye witnesses, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any of the charges considered.”
Miss Nanfuka was attending the event with London school friends who travelled from their universities to get ready at her house. A family friend said her parents did not want to speak about the tragedy.