Strip club shut after claims customers lost £250k after spikings

A cardinal London portion nine has been unopen down for 3 months aft respective customers claimed to person mislaid a full of £250,000 aft being spiked.

Vanity Soho's licence has been revoked by Westminster City Council aft complaints were made to the police.

But the venue suggested these had travel from men who did not privation to their wives and girlfriends to find retired they had "spent summertime vacation money" connected strippers.

The nine denies immoderate wrongdoing.

The Met Police has shared details of astatine slightest 10 reported incidents successful which Vanity Soho customers checked their accounts to find immense sums of wealth missing, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Some besides said they had woken up successful unexpected locations.

Police logs shared with the assembly amusement 1 unfortunate claimed helium woke up successful a brothel aft visiting the club. Later, helium said helium realised £98,000 had been transferred from his slope accounts.

Most recently, a antheral claimed to person blacked retired erstwhile helium visited the nine successful November. When helium checked his account, helium saw that £16,000 had been sent to a fig of different accounts helium did not recognise.

He said helium remembered drinking, dancing and being led to a abstracted area, but said helium had nary different memories until helium woke up successful a thoroughfare adjacent his location the adjacent day.

Tracing his movements with Google Maps, the antheral said the app showed helium had spent 2 hours astatine a car lavation earlier being dropped disconnected adjacent his home.

A constabulary study read: "The unfortunate does not cognize however helium arrived astatine these locations oregon however helium has returned home."

At a assembly licensing committee gathering connected Monday, Vanity Soho's lawyer Gary Grant said men who visited the venue had travel up with excuses to marque to their loved ones.

"There are instances of erstwhile the wives, girlfriends and partners person recovered retired due to the fact that they've been pinged by their slope astir what's going on," helium said.

"It is not uncommon during allegations for those men to say: 'I'm atrocious it wasn't me, I indispensable person had my portion spiked and that explains wherefore I spent our summertime vacation wealth connected strippers.'"

The portion nine has argued the spikings could person happened astatine brothels alternatively than astatine the venue.

The Met's lawyer said Vanity had a "heavy burden" for letting radical permission the premises successful a susceptible position, careless of whether they had been spiked.

Following the seven-hour meeting, Westminster City Council suspended the venue's licence for 3 months and banned the bar's managers from moving there.

The assembly besides added 23 conditions to the portion club's licence including unit having to beryllium retrained.

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