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Raid: The Capricorn Club in Goodge Street |
Vice squad raid an up-market club
Three men charged with controlling a brothel and possession of drugs with intent to supply
VICE squad police closed down a club in Fitzrovia they alleged was a high-end brothel on Thursday, 18 months after Camden Council ignored police and residents’ objections to grant it a licence.
Seven people were arrested when the Met’s clubs and vice unit raided the Capricorn Club in Goodge Street, which police claimed was “known to its affluent clientele as a place where sex and drugs were freely available”.
Three men were charged on Saturday with controlling a brothel, controlling prostitution, and possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.
Eighteen women in their 20s and 30s who worked at the club were interviewed and offered support services, according to police, who alleged prostitution took place in the club and at a hotel in the area. In May Camden considered a licensing application from the Capricorn Club.
Its bids for longer alcohol and entertainment hours were both granted despite the direct opposition of the police and the objections of ward councillor Penny Abraham and residents’ groups.
Cllr Abraham said after the raid she could not understand how the club had been repeatedly licensed and had asked Town Hall lawyers for an inquiry. She said: “I have asked for a full inquiry. Bloomsbury residents live all around this club, and have been intimidated by it for far too long. Despite warnings of prostitution very little action took place to follow up those warnings. Thank goodness the police finally decided to take action.”
According to police, wraps of cocaine were found at the venue along with £2,000 in cash. A connected raid on a house in Holloway yielded £24,000 in cash, police said.
The future of the Capricorn – a basement private members’ bar that allowed non-members in for a fee – was not clear. No one at the club was available for comment. |
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