Strip club which gave client £50k bill loses licence

The venue was accused of “taking advantage” of patrons by the Metropolitan Police
NIGEL HOWARD ©
Ben Morgan31 January 2020

A lap dancing club accused of fleecing a drunk customer out of £50,000 in just two hours has lost its licence.

SophistiCats in Euston, which bills itself as London’s “premier” gentlemen’s venue, was accused of “taking advantage” of patrons by the Metropolitan Police.

A finance worker told officers he woke up after a night out last February to find credit card receipts totalling £50,000 — for nine litres of champagne and five Jägerbombs — purchased between 3am and 4.53am. Another customer claimed £8,000 was taken from his account “without his consent” during a drunken visit on September 28, while his friend was charged £2,500.

It led to police recommending the club’s sexual entertainment venues licence be revoked in a report that went before Camden council’s licensing committee last night.

Barrister Robert Cohen, representing the Met, said officers had noticed “startling similarities” between various alleged incidents at the club.

He told the committee: “The Met Police Service’s position is that it is likely customers were being taken advantage of on multiple occasions.

“It is likely performers were encouraging alcohol consumption with a view of extracting money from those customers.” Mr Cohen said the “fact of irresponsible supply of alcohol” was “irrefutable” and added: “It is about as far away from good practice in a licensed premises as possible.”

About 15 dancers attended the meeting to give representations in support of the club’s application to renew its licence. The club’s director said in a witness statement that “under no circumstances” were customers overcharged, given spiked drinks or subjected to fraudulent sales practices.

The director, who was not named, said they did not believe the man who was charged £50,000 was a victim, and was instead “wealthy and entitled”.

A spokesman for SophistiCats said before the meeting: “We take all allegations seriously and these claims have been independently investigated and rejected.” The venue has 21 days to appeal the decision, during which time it can open as normal.

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