A popular seafront bar can now stay open until 3am at weekends – after bosses blasted those blaming them for “whatever goes wrong” in town.
Nejmi Hassan says he and his brother Hassan, who own Captain Jack’s in Herne Bay, are “both outstanding members of the community”.
He hit back at critics in a passionate speech during a Canterbury City Council (CCC) licensing subcommittee meeting on Wednesday.
The bid to extend opening hours at the town’s “liveliest venue” had faced 12 objections, mostly centring on fears of an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour – though councillors said there was a “lack of evidence to back those concerns”.
Nejmi said: “The assertion, which is a continual theme, that whatever goes wrong or happens in Herne Bay has come from Captain Jack’s is absolutely ludicrous.
“There’s a definite attack on the character of myself and my brother within those objections, basically saying that we’re not fit and that I’m unable to run a good operation.”
The 49-year-old lawyer said he and his brother – who also own Makcari’s Cafè and Ice Cream Parlour – are “both outstanding members of the community”.
“We have no criminal convictions, have never been arrested or been accused of even the most minor crime,” Nejmi said.
“It’s honestly quite offensive to read some of these statements, especially as we have been in the town, in Herne Bay, for 13 years now.
“A lot of the statements that are coming refer to us bringing the wrong kind of people into town.
“We’re not in the town. Our business allows customers to come and leave without having any influence whatsoever on the town.
“This week alone, I probably spent about four hours on CCTV to justify how I operate and run my venue through totally unjustifiable complaints that are coming through.”
Until now, Captain Jack’s closed at 12.45am on Fridays and Saturdays. The Hassans previously argued that extending their opening times would help reduce “public disorder”, as customers would no longer leave en masse to walk through the streets to the town’s only nightclub, Vivid, which shuts at 3am.
According to a Freedom of Information request to Kent Police, in 2024, officers were called out to Captain Jack’s 12 times.
Among the objections were concerns raised about incidents of violent crime near the bar – including a stabbing and a machete attack in the past few years.
There were also claims of customers leaving the venue “excessively drunk” and being aggressive and rude to staff at other businesses.
Natasha Hickman, who runs Bay Kebabs, told the council: “We are the only food outlet open late and have been blighted over the last few years with people coming from Captain Jack’s coming to our shop very drunk from this bar.
“We know they come from Captain Jack’s because we ask them.
“Those customers often are aggressive and very rude to my staff. We have no alternative other than to serve them because if we don’t, they will cause problems.”
Resident Rebecca Wieten said: “I have lived in Herne Bay from the age of eight. I have never known a bar to cause so much disruption to a town .
“I will never go past there or even near that end of the seafront purely out of fear.”
Nejmi said the later closing time would allow them to filter people out in a more orderly manner.
One of the conditions on the licence will prevent readmission after 1am, which Mr Hassan called “absolutely fine”.
“There’s absolutely no concern for Captain Jack to be granted this licence – I actually believe that it’s in the public interest,” he said.
“When we get to closing time at half past 12, we have 150 members of the public that we have to deal with.
“To get them all out in one go is not easy. It can be done, but it causes a huge gathering outside.
“You switch the music off at half past twelve because you have to, and then they get upset, they want one more song.
“The application is so that we can disperse our customers between the hours of one and 3am safely and one by one, without the herd mentality.”
Despite the worries of some residents and businesses, police said it had no concerns over the running of Captain Jack’s – bar one incident in January where it stayed open beyond its opening hours.
What we find in terms of our decision is that there is a lack of evidence to back those concerns…
Officers gave the establishment a formal warning for the breach, which was explained as being a private event which overran after the DJ who hired the space kept giving in to crowd pressure to play more songs.
Canterbury City Council licensing teams also expressed no issues, with one staff member recalling having shared a good working relationship with the Hassan brothers for the best part of two decades.
Captain Jack’s will only be allowed to stay open later on Fridays and Saturdays, and customers will be stopped from buying alcohol half an hour before closing time.
In his summary of the approval, chair Cllr Mike Bland (Lab) said: “The panel notes that there have been concerns raised and we’ve considered those concerns.
“What we find in terms of our decision is that there is a lack of evidence to back those concerns.
“What I would ask the applicant to do is to ensure that there is indeed encouragement for staggered dispersal in the additional hours, because if there was staggered dispersal from the venue, it would indeed avoid some of the problems that have been of concern in the locality.”
Captain Jack’s, which first opened in 2018, can accommodate up to 250 people, though Mr Hassan says it is more likely for them to get 150 to 200 in a night.
He previously told KentOnline: “We are probably the liveliest venue in town. There aren’t any other venues in Herne Bay that can accommodate as many people as we do. We have a DJ and it’s quite a cool environment for everyone to be in.
“It’s the kind of place where everyone gathers and everyone meets, so yes, we have had a couple of publicised incidents, but that’s literally it.
“We have a high level of door security. It’s always three or four guys, whether we’re busy or not – security-qualified agents that are on the door until we close.”
