Heaven nightclub a 'huge crime generator' as it loses fight to reopen after woman's alleged rape

Heaven nightclub near Embankment station has lost its battle to reopen | Google

Heaven nightclub in London has lost its fight to reopen after being shut down by the Metropolitan Police after a woman alleged she was raped by a bouncer.

The club will remain shut until a full licensing hearing takes place next month, Westminster City Council said.

The decision was handed down following a lengthy four-and-a-half hour meeting on Tuesday (November 19) which took place after Heaven challenged an interim suspension placed on it last week. A lawyer for the council said: “The committee felt that permitting the premises to open without the premises licence holder working in partnership with police, who still have concerns, would still put members of the public at risk and the committee have a duty to ensure the premises licence holder is promoting the licensing objective and, in particular, public safety.”

Police wanted the venue to remain shut until a full hearing could take place but also proposed conditions such as reducing opening hours and capacity at the club should it reopen. They also called for body-worn cameras to be placed at chest height and for the club to remain shut for at least 14 days while the measures are implemented.

Gary Grant, representing the Met, said the alleged rape amounted to the ‘grossest breach of trust’ by a person employed by the venue to safeguard its users and accused the club of being a ‘huge crime generator’. He said: “It’s difficult to think of a greater [breach of] trust than [allegedly] exploiting a paralytically drunk woman – and I can indicate she was 18 years old – in that manner that was [allegedly] done on this occasion. And the failings are not just of this individual but also of the nightclub itself because, astonishing is it not that a door supervisor can [allegedly] disappear and go AWOL without anyone noticing. It is astonishing he can [allegedly] then take this woman to a secluded area and then rape her.”

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A Met officer present at yesterday’s meeting (Tuesday) said she had ‘grave concerns’ about the venue after it was revealed the suspect had [allegedly] used a fake name and had no right to work in the UK. She said: “I’m not convinced and don’t feel [changes proposed by Heaven] can be done overnight. This can’t be rushed. We cannot allow for attendees of this nightclub to be used as guinea pigs to test these new policies.”

She added: “I’m not convinced that if the club opened up immediately that people would be safe.”

Jeremy Joseph, the licence holder, said he was ‘devastated and shocked’ by the alleged incident. In response, he offered to employ extra security and temporarily reduce capacity to 1,600 people, down from 1,750. He also promised to discipline security staff, whom he explained were not direct employees of the club.

He said: “No one can work at Heaven if they’re not on our system. If they turn up, they will not be allowed to work. We have always treated security as separate employees because they are not employed by us but as of now we will be treating them with the same disciplinary procedures internal staff like bar staff face.”

It is understood one of two security firms in charge of guarding the venue is run by the venue’s designated premises supervisor. Police have not immediately called for the supervisor to step down, though this was offered by Mr Joseph.

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Mr Joseph also said he was introducing ID scanners and said security guards would have to report their movements. He also claims to have repeatedly ‘begged’ for Met officers to visit the venue but never received a response.

He said: “We are a responsible company and we report everything to police. There is so much focus on violence against women and girls that police are asking for everyone to have confidence in reporting harassment and that is exactly what we are doing. We are tackling the issue with increased reporting. We should be credited for that and not used against us.”

Heaven has had its licence revoked by Westminster City for 28 days, until a full hearing can take place. The alleged victim and her friends reportedly queued for two hours to enter the iconic nightclub on the night of November 1 but were refused entry because they were ‘too intoxicated’, said the Met Police in its evidence to Westminster City Council.

It’s claimed that while asking another member of staff to be let in to get her friends already inside the club, she was approached by the suspect, who has since been named as Morenikeji Adewole, of Dunlop Close, Dartford, saying he could help ‘get them in’. The victim was then allegedly led up a side street by Mr Adewole and had ‘unconsensual sex’ in a car, it is claimed.

The alleged victim returned to the nightclub to tell another member of staff what had happened but was told she was too drunk and to return the next day to report what had happened, it is alleged. The staff member had not contacted police and ‘there has been no safeguarding of a very vulnerable victim’, said the report.

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The victim then left the venue with her friends and reported the incident to police the next day, the hearing was told. Enquiries by detectives led to Mr Adewole being charged with rape.

The man, who is also known as Olu Julius or Olusolu Alabi, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (November 14). The 47-year-old has since been remanded in custody and will appear at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, December 11.

The Met Police report also mentioned another incident which took place on May 7 of this year, in which members of Heaven’s security team were allegedly filmed assaulting a customer in the street.