Decision time for Middlesbrough club where underage girls 'were served alcohol before alleged rape'

A decision is to be made about a Middlesbrough nightclub where underage girls were said to have been served drinks before one was allegedly raped.

The Lounge Afrique on Corporation Road had its licence suspended after it was alleged a number of underage girls were allowed in and served alcoholic drinks in the early hours of a day in July. It was reported to police that one of the girls, who was under 16, was raped "whilst at or following their attendance at the premises".

Middlesbrough Council's licensing committee was told of nine other police reports at the town centre bar in the past two years. These included suspected drink-spiking and sexual assault - one of which led to a separate rape investigation - along with a report the club was being used as a brothel and physical assaults on women.

Concerns reported to door staff were dismissed or "met with laughter" or lack of concern, according to a police report. The most recent rape allegation is under investigation by Cleveland Police, which had last visited the venue in October 2024.

Licence holder Percy Quarcoo said he was bringing in new measures including a new security team, a safeguarding lead, enhanced staff training, strengthened age verification, new procedures and audits, and taking on the role of premises supervisor himself. He said the reports were "deeply distressing", prompting a thorough review of how the club operates and making "significant improvements" to ensure "customer safety is at the centre of everything we do".

Cleveland Police suggested suspending the licence until those measures were fully implemented. Police lawyer Kayley Scaife said the club failed to meet licensing objectives and obligations, took six days to hand over CCTV to officers, and it was not right to lay the blame solely on door staff.

Council licensing, public health and children's services representatives suggested revoking the licence altogether. Fiona Helyer, principal public protection officer for licensing, said they had "grave concerns" about the club's management.

She referred to a 2024 visit where a room containing two double beds was found, which the licence holder said was used for sleeping. She told the committee: "These reports indicate a pattern of concerns that cannot simply be dismissed as isolated incidents."

She said she welcomed the licence holder's steps and improvements, but added: "The alleged entry of multiple children into the premises, the apparent failure of age verification controls, the serious safeguarding concerns that have arisen and the history of previous incidents collectively demonstrate significant failings.

"Where children are able to gain access to a late-night alcohol-led venue and become exposed to serious risk, the committee is entitled to take a particularly serious view of those failings."

'Inadequate procedures'

Kay Dargue, for children's services, said: "They've entered that property on multiple occasions without being challenged. They've subsequently purchased alcohol at the bar, again while not being challenged. And during that same period, a significantly serious incident has occurred where a child is alleged to have been harmed.

"This raises for me many questions around the adequacy and effectiveness of the premises' age verification, procedures, access controls and safeguarding measures. It would appear the staff have failed in their duties."

She said without robust procedures, children were at risk from criminality, violence, sexual exploitation and alcohol misuse: "This incident suggests the existing systems and procedures are inadequate or not being implemented effectively."

She added later: "There were inadequate procedures in place. My concern remains that there has no formal training in safeguarding."

'This shouldn't have happened'

Senior public health officer Lindsay Clode said: "Had those children not been able to go into that premises, drink alcohol... this wouldn't have happened. They were placed at risk. It's not an isolated incident."

She said later: "It shouldn't take a significant incident like this for the premises licence holder to pull their socks up."

In response, Mr Quarcoo admitted there had been "flaws" and expressed concern for the young person involved, saying: "We recognise that this should not have happened. We've used this review process to examine our procedures in detail and recognise where should more safeguards apply.

"We're taking this very seriously. We want to be the best in class when it comes to managing our venue."

'We're starting from scratch'

He said the other issues raised were "extremely concerning to us" and they recognised their responsibilities and learned from events to make meaningful and lasting improvements to make sure it did not happen again. He added: "We want Lounge Afrique to be a venue where concerns are identified, recorded, reported and acted upon appropriately."

He said the club made a proud contribution to the community, attracting people from other areas and allowing people from all backgrounds to come together: "However, none of that is more important than the safety and welfare of the people that enter our premises.

"Lounge Afrique is part of Middlesbrough. We want to continue to contribute positively to the town, but we understand that with that privilege comes a significant responsibility. Everything's been wiped off, we're going to start afresh. We're starting from scratch to say, everything that happened in the past is gone."

'Doesn't cut it'

Under questioning, he said a customer seen on CCTV with a full bottle of rum or whisky would have bought this for a group. He said he would carry out training himself and "I believe in self-taught" rather than having formal qualifications.

He agreed allowing young people into the bar and serving them drinks made them very vulnerable, and accepted licence conditions had been breached: "I hold my hands up, absolutely. We're deeply sorry about everything."

Ms Helyer said Mr Quarcoo's desire to move on from the past in "doesn't cut it". She asked him: "If you've breached licence conditions from day dot, what's the change?... Why should the committee have confidence that these things won't happen again?"

Mr Quarcoo answered: "Everything's changing, different culture, behaviour... It's going to be a whole new thing, including myself."

The licensing committee said it would give its decision in the next five working days.

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