Nigerian man accused of rape ‘was not permitted to work in UK’
Morenikeji Adewole, 47, from Dartford, Kent, is on trial accused of raping a woman in his car near the venue in the early hours of November 1 2024, which he denies.
The drunk 19-year-old was in tears when she met her friends after allegedly being raped by a Heaven nightclub security guard, a court has heard.
CCTV from the night shows hundreds of people wearing fancy dress in the Heaven smoking area, the street and in the queue.
The complainant, who cannot be identified, and five friends had been drinking vodka mixers before arriving and they queued for more than two hours, Southwark Crown Court heard on Thursday.
She and one of the group were denied entry to the central London venue’s Halloween event because they were too intoxicated, the court was told.
The friend who was also rejected described himself being “eight out of 10” on a scale of intoxication, meaning “very, very drunk”.
A security guard walked them to nearby Buckingham Street to sober up and the two friends sat on some steps while the guard stood by, he told jurors.
The complainant only stayed there for around “30 seconds” because she needed the bathroom and the security guard pointed her towards one, the university student said.
She left her phone, bag and coat with the friend and he waited at the steps with the guard for around 30 minutes before she returned, he claimed.
Asked if he remembered the guard leaving at any point, he said he “might have gone off for a bit” but “most of the time he was with me”.
When she came back the friends had a “jokey” conversation and the young man said he asked “did you probably sleep with someone?”
He added: “I guess the way I worded it was quite rhetorical, not really expecting much of an answer.”
He said he does not remember her immediate reaction and that they then walked back to Heaven.
He added: “She just seemed very adamant to want to get in, she wanted to just see everybody because we had all been separated.”
The pair were again rejected from entering the club, he said.
The rest of the group came outside and the young man recalled the complainant telling them she had had sexual intercourse with the security guard.
Stephan Alfred, defending Adewole, put to the young man that a “realistic summary of how she said it” was “I f***** the security guard, he said he would let me in”.
The young man agreed, adding: “I know that she wasn’t fully able to express herself properly that night, she was still quite intoxicated at that point.”
The defendant had been employed at Heaven under the name Olusola Julius Alabi.
Officers discovered his real name through finger print evidence after his arrest, jurors were told.
Giving evidence, the defendant said he "used a false ID to obtain work, to get a job and that it was "to make a living.. to save for my partner -I'm the one who paid for the rent".
He said he had come to the UK on vacation and later to find employment.
Asked why he gave officers a false name, he said: "I was panicking, that's the name people call me at my work."
At the time of the alleged rape he was living in an apartment with his partner and at work supervised three other Heaven security guards, the court heard.
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