Heaven security guard cleared of raping woman in his car near venue
The complainant had queued outside the club for around two hours with five friends for a Halloween-themed event but was denied entry for being too intoxicated, a trial at Southwark Crown Court was told.
Adewole then walked her away from the club's entrance and picked her up in his car before driving the woman to a small road called Adelphi Terrace.
A jury of eight men and four women reached a unanimous verdict on Friday after around six hours and 30 minutes of deliberations, with Adewole found not guilty of both rape and attempted rape.
The defendant cried and wiped away tears with tissues in the dock as the verdicts were delivered in court.
Giving evidence during the trial, Adewole claimed that there was sexual activity with the complainant but he did not have penetrative intercourse with the woman.
He said that the woman had earlier told him she was 25-years-old but in the car she said she was 19 and he 'stopped immediately'.
Addressing Adewole after the verdict, Judge Martin Griffith said he should still be 'absolutely ashamed' of himself for taking advantage of the drunken woman.
The judge said: 'Your job was to take care of them (the club attendees). Your response to that was to go off in a car with her because your brain was driven by your groin.'
The trial heard Adewole had used a false ID to get a job at the club, having been employed at Heaven under the name Olusola Julius Alabi, and was in the UK on a five-year tourist visa that did not allow him to work in the country.
He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of an identification document with improper intention relating to the offences.
Judge Griffith passed concurrent six-month custodial sentences for each offence, but said the time had already been served by the defendant during his time on remand.
He added a victim surcharge would also be drawn up in due course.
The judge told the jury: 'Thank you very much for the obvious care and attention that you took.'
Heaven nightclub, which has operated in Charing Cross for more than 40 years, was temporarily closed down by Westminster City Council after the alleged incident on public safety grounds.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
7 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Incredible Bentley TANK uncovered by cops after being abandoned & left to rust in bushes outside garage
TANKED UP Incredible Bentley TANK uncovered by cops after being abandoned & left to rust in bushes outside garage Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN astonishing Bentley tank has been unearthed from a bush by cops after being abandoned outside a garage. The £200,000 GT Coupe was discovered during an raid on a workshop in St Petersburg, Russia. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The GT Coupe is worth a staggering £200,000 Credit: Alamy 2 The astonishing Bentley tank was unearthed by cops earlier this week Credit: Clipzilla Immigration officers found the luxury vehicle on 30 July when they were looking for illegal workers. Police video footage of the operation shows the hybrid motor parked up among weeds and bushes outside the garage. Officers also discovered 67 hybrid and heavily adapted vehicles on the site either with illegal registration documents or unroadworthy bodywork changes. A police spokesperson said: "Given the nature of the site, special attention was paid to vehicles." The Bentley is believed to be modelled on an earlier "Ultratank" built by Russian petrolhead Konstantin Zarutskiy for his YouTube channel AcademeG. His prototype, with higher tracks, could reach 81 mph, slower than the Bentley's original 200mph but still faster than any other tracked vehicle. This isn't the first time a luxury motor has been seized in a police crackdown on crime. In the UK too, police are frequently confiscating supercars to improve safety in the capital. Last year, Scotland Yard confiscated vehicles including a McClaren, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Lamborghini. I bought £13,000 Bentley only to learn it was once owned by legendary TV host of classic 1980s game show Westminster local residents complained about cars driving poorly or at high-speed. So the force worked with Westminster City Council and the Motor Insurers' Bureau to remove nuisance drivers who drive around the area more frequently in the summer months. The operation launched on the evening of August 2 and ran across that weekend seizing £6million worth of cars. Officers also made five arrests including for insurance fraud, using a mobile phone at the wheel, not using a seatbelt and driving without due care. Metropolitan Police Special Inspector Geoff Tatman said: "The Met is working to put communities first - listening to and tackling their concerns. "This hugely successful operation has proved we are dealing with those crimes, such as anti-social driving, that is causing most distress to residents and tourists. "This brilliant partnership work between the Met's Vehicle Enforcement Team, Motor Insurers' Bureau and Westminster City Council demonstrates to Londoners we are doubling down on crime on the roads. "It's also testament to the hard work and dedication of the Met Special Constables – volunteer police officers - that play a vital role in our mission to make London safer and kindly give up their free time help serve the community."
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
TfL spends £37,000 on clearing Park Lane homeless encampments
Transport for London (TfL) has spent almost £37,000 on removing homeless people from Park Lane since April last year, it has been response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the transport authority said it had spent the money on court costs and instructing bailiffs and legal counsel, with fairly large encampments basing themselves in the area over each of the last two which owns the green stretch of land running down the dual carriageway, has worked with Westminster City Council to remove the charity St Mungo's called for a compassionate response. TfL said "no-one should be faced with sleeping rough" but that Park Lane was not safe. In its reply to the FOI request, submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), TfL revealed it spent £35,260 in 2024-25 and £1,714 so far this year.A spokesperson confirmed an additional £404 had been spent since the FOI response was received – making a total of £37,378 – with further court charges expected in said people who had been sleeping rough in Park Lane had been made aware they would be removed if they returned and that security staff would patrol the area. In 2021, Westminster City Council staff had to clear piles of rubbish and dismantle an encampment thought to have occupied the space for around seven years. Last October, TfL removed a group of about 40 people from the site having been granted a possession order the month before. Conservative councillors Paul Fisher and Tim Barnes previously said TfL and Westminster City Council needed to "provide a lasting solution" to the camps."Otherwise we will be back at square one," they told the LDRS in May."This is unacceptable at the centre of our capital."A spokesperson for St Mungo's said people facing rough sleeping in London needed to be supported into accessing emergency accommodation, housing in the private rented sector and specialist accommodation. The TfL spokesperson said: "Park Lane is a busy part of the road network that is not a safe place for people to sleep rough and our focus has always been on the safety and welfare of everyone involved."People who have been sleeping rough at this site have been made aware that returning to the site is not an option and that they will be removed."A Westminster City Council spokesperson previously told the LDRS its support services were "comprehensive and there is no reason a person should have to sleep rough – on this site or anywhere else in the city".
South Wales Guardian
4 days ago
- South Wales Guardian
Call for Amazon tax to rebuild local communities year on from Southport riots
The trouble, which spread through parts of England and Northern Ireland following the Southport killings, should have been a 'wake-up call', the author of the report said. Disorder broke out after the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the town on July 29 last year. It quickly spread to other areas, and mosques, community centres and libraries were attacked while hotels housing asylum seekers were also targeted. The far-right 'capitalised on Southport's disrepair to sow disorder', the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said, as the paper it commissioned noted a 'fight for investment in local amenities has garnered little attention' in the aftermath. The report warned of a 'pincer movement of abandonment and gentrification' which has gradually seen community spaces, such as the Southport pier which closed in 2022, lost and increased isolation of people in many areas. Referring to previous research, the report said 50 UK pubs close for good each month, an estimated 600 youth clubs shut between 2012 and 2016 and London lost almost 10 local authority-run community spaces a year between 2018 and 2023. It has suggested a '21st-century welfare fund' raised through a so-called Amazon tax, whereby warehouses and distribution centres are subject to higher levies or online sales taxes. It argued online retailers which build 'giant structures' – a demonstration of their high value – often do not contribute 'sufficiently to the communities around them'. A tax on companies with revenues over £1 million could help generate 'larger, more sustained resource for communities than current community regeneration efforts', it said. The report said: 'If there is a thread connecting the high-octane events of late July (2024) and the slow local politics of the pier, it is the loss of physical spaces where we might come together, and the radicalisation of some of the digital spaces that have replaced them. 'There is an appetite for community action, as the campaign for the pier shows, but a lack of investment and space. 'In the absence of structures which might foster wider solidarities, many retreat into the sphere of the home, or worse, into ethno-nationalist fantasies of muscular sovereignty.' Report author Dr Sacha Hilhorst said: 'The Southport riots were a wake-up call – a stark reminder of what can happen when communities lose the places that once brought people together. In the absence of shared spaces, misinformation and hate can fill the void, creating tinderbox conditions for violence. 'Rebuilding local infrastructure isn't just about nostalgia – it's a vital bulwark against division and the dangerous pull of the far right. 'But communities are not apathetic. They are crying out for places to gather, to organise, and to belong. We need a new generation of institutions to help them do just that.' Dr Parth Patel, associate director at the IPPR, said: 'Where shared spaces are lost, a sense of decline and disconnection takes root – and with it, dangerous alternatives thrive. 'The far right is exploiting the void where solidarity used to live – they capitalised on Southport's disrepair to sow disorder. 'If we're serious about social renewal, we must rebuild the civic infrastructure that once helped people support each other and shape their communities.' A government spokesperson said: 'The disorder that affected communities across the UK following the Southport tragedy highlighted the need for a new approach to community cohesion. 'It's clear that central government has lacked strategic focus on social cohesion for many years, which is why this government is working to develop a longer-term strategy to tackle divisions in our communities and build common ground. 'One of the most effective ways to respond to the frustrations that fester is by improving peoples' lives, and the places in which they live, and through our Plan for Neighbourhoods we are already investing £1.5 billion across 75 areas in the community services local people need and making real improvements they can see on their doorsteps and in their communities.'
