Teen girls 'served alcohol and sexually harassed' by men at swanky cocktail bar
A swanky London cocktail bar has been slammed after reports underage girls were "sexually harassed" by older men.
The group of teenagers were reportedly allowed to drink at the Cocktail Club in London's Canary Wharf for six hours - with one girl later collapsing at a separate venue in Shoreditch where it's alleged their drinks were spiked..
Police have submitted a licence review as they believe staff "spotted clearly underage girls who were drunk and vulnerable" and did not offer them support at the time of the incident in December 2022.
According to PC Michael Rice of Central East Police Licensing, police were also called to the separate bar in Shoreditch after reports of the spiking.
Police later found out the group had been previously been drinking at the Cocktail Club for around six hours and were so drunk and intoxicated, one girl had thrown up inside the bar, reports My London.
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PC Rice said: "At no point were any of the group asked to show any ID despite purchasing drinks at the bar a number of times.
One of the girls was so intoxicated she vomited on the floor of the bar (Tower Hamlets Council)"While investigating how this was able to happen at a license premises we have discovered that drunken fights and disorder have taken place at the Cocktail Club and the venue, with most seriously a number of sexual harassment allegations made by female customers.
"We also believe that other young people under 18 have been let into the venue and served alcohol."
CCTV footage reviewed by police shows the group of teenagers being served cocktails and shots by staff behind the bar "without challenge".
Police also saw "very concerning images of sexual harrassment" directed towards the group of girls, with one man grabbing one of the girls by the neck. PC Rice said: "Both 16-year-old girls seem to be concerned by this behaviour and make it clear that person's behaviour is not wanted."
He continued: "No members of staff pick up on this behaviour and so no action is taken to deal with this male or protect the women." During the night, police said one of the girls threw up on the floor before running to the toilet with a friend and clutching her mouth.
"This is directly next to a member of the security team who seems not to notice," PC Rice added. "The 16-year-old girl has been in the venue for less than 30 minutes."
The girl who appeared to be intoxicated then returns to the bar to order another drink and the group continues to order drinks and shots throughout the night, according to police.
The group stay inside the venue until 11.55pm after spending the night drinking, with one so intoxicated, she was falling "all over her friends and needs them to keep her from falling over". Police officers believe there were other customers under the age of 18 who were allowed inside the venue without being asked for any ID.
When officers visited the venue shortly after the incident happened, they said they didn't see "a single ID check taking place" on customers. After looking at the incident report group, police said there were "an alarming number of female customers being harassed by men" which staff were aware of but had not contacted the police about.
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Officers say they have submitted a license review to Tower Hamlets Council because they believe the Cocktail Club "allowed a group of young people including two 16-year-old girls to come into the venue to buy and drink alcohol". They also said they were concerned by the number of incidents which have taken place after being open for just six weeks.
"If a venue serves alcohol to 16-year-old children, and does nothing about a clear pattern of harassment against women and girls then no amount of conditions are going to change the risk they pose," PC Rice added.
Dawn Donohoe, managing director of the London Cocktail Club Ltd, which owns the bar, said the incident has left her "shocked and disappointed".
Ms Donohoe said: "I have two daughters myself and am mortified the incident occurred in one of our premises. This incident is the first incident of this nature in our 17 venues. I am fully aware of and recognise the seriousness of this incident and do not want this to ever happen again."
Following the incident, Ms Donohoe met with police and provided a detailed action plan and has decided to change the entire management team at the Canary Wharf branch and installed an ID scanner.
Guiseppe Talio, general manager of Ibérica, a Spanish tapas restaurant next door to the bar in Canary Wharf, said: "Since [the venue] opened, as a business we never had any issues with them. Members of my staff are visiting them as guests regularly and they never reported anything wrong about the [venue]."
The venue's licence review will be discussed at a Tower Hamlets Council licensing sub-committee next week (Tuesday, April 11).
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