Southwark restaurant where man was killed in front of mum has bid to sell booze rejected

The cousin of a man stabbed to death in front of his mum inside their family-run South London restaurant has had her bid to let the Latin American eatery serve booze again rejected by a South London council. Irina Elizabeth Solorzano Chango told a Southwark Council licensing meeting on Thursday (June 20) that she had taken over the running Rincon Costeno in Elephant and Castle from her aunt Rocio Chango Mullo in December 2023.

Ms Chango Mullo witnessed her son Ian Gualavisi, 23, get murdered at the Ecuadorian restaurant on Maldonado Walk weeks before Christmas in 2021. Councillors were left unsatisfied after Ms Solorzano Chango initially failed to disclose her relationship to Ms Chango Mullo at a previous hearing on June 3, and claimed she didn’t know the address of the restaurant that it later emerged she had been running for six months.

Cllr Renata Hamvas, chair of the licensing hearing, told Ms Solarzano Chango that she needed to be ‘straight’ with the committee if she applied for another alcohol licence in the future. Cllr Hamvas added that Ms Solarzano Chango didn’t appear to have the knowledge that she should have as someone responsible for running a premises.

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Earlier in the meeting, Ms Solarzano Chango told Cllr Hamvas that she didn’t understand the question when asked to list the four licensing objectives. They are the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm. She also told councillors that she acquired her personal licence from Southwark Council, but in her application she said it was from Lambeth.

Cllr Margy Newens, a member of the committee, said she had a ‘clear impression’ that some of the information Ms Solarzano Chango had provided the hearings hadn’t been ‘completely truthful.’ Cllr Newens asked Ms Solarzano Chango to explain why she had ‘misrepresented’ certain facts, drawing attention to her initial denial that she had any connection to Rincon Costeno’s previous managers, which included her aunt.

In response, Ms Solarzano Chango said she didn’t think the relationship between her and her aunt was relevant at the time because Ms Chango Mullo wasn’t involved in the restaurant’s new operation.

She added: “I didn’t think that it was needed to say anything about her because she’s not there any more. [...] She’s not with me in the restaurant.”

Raul Gimeno, representing Ms Solorzano Chango, claimed Ms Solorzano had rang him during the meeting and complained she felt like she was ‘being attacked’. But the council’s legal advisor said there was ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ in the councillors’ questioning of her. Cllr Renata Hamvas later said she was ‘sorry’ that Ms Solorzano Chango became distressed during the meeting.

Got a story? Email robert.firth@reachplc.com.

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