Husbands 'spent holiday money on strippers' say strip club's lawyers as it's shuttered amid spiking claims
10 January 2023, 13:56
Lawyers acting for a Soho strip club at the centre of claims of drink spiking told a licensing hearing that alleged victims had been making up excuses for their spouses because they 'spent their holiday money on strippers'.
Vanity Bar and Nightclub has been closed down for three months after a number of alleged spikings cost victims £250,000.
One man claimed he had £98,000 stolen from his bank account after allegedly having his drink spiked - one of 10 men to have now reported incidents following visits to the London strip club.
At a licensing hearing, the Soho venue accused the alleged victims of lying as they did not want to tell the truth to their partners about 'spending their summer holiday money on strippers'.
Vanity's lawyer Gary Grant also accused police of misunderstanding crime reports and wrongfully shutting down the venue.
He told a Westminster licensing committee: "The police approach is a broad brush. It is 'look at how many complaints there are, there can't be smoke without fire...' with respect we disagree."
Mr Grant claimed: "There are instances of when the wives, girlfriends, and partners have found out because they've been pinged by their bank about what's going on.
"It is not uncommon, during allegations, for those men to say 'I'm sorry it wasn't me I must have had my drink spiked and that explains why I spent our summer holiday money on strippers."
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The strip club has also claimed the drink spikings may have taken place at different venues later on in the night, rather than at Vanity, MyLondon reports.
A Westminster City Council report read: "The male recalls entering Vanity and purchasing a drink. The male has no recollection after this point.
"The victim came around the next day and was in a street near to his home address. The victim has checked his bank and found approximately £3,000 payments were taken by Vanity over four transactions.
"There were numerous other transactions made to different people and companies to the approximate value of £16,000. Four transactions of £3,000 saw the victim pushed into his overdraft, at which point three £500 transactions took place from other accounts."
Another victim claims he woke up in a brothel after visiting Vanity, later discovering £98,000 had been transferred out of his accounts.
Another victim found £37,500 had been taken from his account, with two further victims having £30,000 taken from multiple accounts.
According to police officers looking into the incident, the victim checked Google Maps to discover he left Vanity approximately two hours after arriving.
PC Steve Muldoon said: "He found himself at a location on Google Maps showing a car wash where he was for nearly two and a half hours.
"He was then dropped near his home. Google Maps has this down as a route he was driven. The victim does not know how he arrived at these locations or how he has returned home."
