THE bride-to-be is sinking another glass of Prosecco, her best pals gathered round for the biggest girls’ night ever – and suddenly everything is turned up a notch.
A discreetly-ordered male stripper arrives, his fireman costume starts coming off and no-one knows where to look – but what happens when this stranger will not take no for an answer – or worse, things turn deadly?
Serial rapist John Worboys stripped at Linda Payton’s 50th birthday party back in October 1994[/caption]
The industry is riddled with tales of sexual assault – and sometimes it gets even worse – including an attempted axe murder in Essex and even contract killers in Blackpool.
One woman spoke of her horror after a strippergram hired for a birthday bash turned out to be notorious black cab rapist John Worboys.
While another bride has recently bravely fought to see a stripper who groped her breasts and forced her legs open despite her asking him not to, jailed.
Top solicitor Marcus Johnstone told The Sun such work can attract “genuine predators who do abuse, taking advantage of vulnerable people and the blurred lines around consent”.
Mr Johnstone – the managing director of PCD Solicitors, the only UK law firm specialising solely in sexual offence cases, said: “There are obviously times when the behaviour of performers or punters crosses the line into illegality.”
However, he said “the nature of strip clubs and similar environments makes proving guilt very difficult”.
He added: “The problem with sex work is that it immediately places all parties at risk of abuse or allegations of abuse.”
Stripper faces prison
Stripper Stuart Kennedy was last week found guilty of sexual assault after he “jiggled the breasts” of a solicitor during a performance at what appeared to be any other hen do.
Dressed as a firefighter, he had been hired by the woman’s sister for her prosecco and pizza bash at a hotel in Perthshire, Scotland.
Kennedy, 42, groped the bride’s breasts and forced her legs open despite her repeatedly telling him: “No, thank you.”
He’s been placed on the Sex Offenders Register and warned he could be jailed – with the court hearing he had been previously found guilty of an identical offence while carrying out another show.
But Kennedy’s actions appear to be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to an industry that requires little screening by law.
DBS checks, for example, are only required for job roles involving “regulated activity” with vulnerable groups, like working with children or adults who need specific care or supervision.
But in such a sexually-charged profession, where body contact is often a given, a grey area emerges in which such performers must be able to demonstrate restraint when things become uncomfortable.
‘An evil charmer’
Care worker Ann O’Callaghan revealed in 2018 she was horrified to discover a strippergram hired for a birthday bash was black cab rapist John Worboys.
She said the creep stayed for an hour after his X-rated performance tucking into food with his privates still on show.
Ann paid around £80 for a male stripper as a cheeky surprise for her sister’s 50th birthday in 1994.
And the birthday girl laughed in front of 40 boozy revellers as the adult entertainer blindfolded her and stripped naked inches from her face in a raunchy “Officer and a Gentleman” routine.
But years later, stunned Ann recognised the stripper as none other than serial sex fiend Worboys – and was delighted that The Sun’s campaign successfully saw him jailed.
Care worker Ann O’Callaghan realised years later who the stripper was[/caption]
Ann, from Hoddeston, Herts, told the Sun in 2019: “He’s an evil charmer and deserves to stay exactly where he is for a very long time.
“I saw his picture on TV after the news broke about him getting released and recognised him instantly.
“The party was 24 years ago when my sister turned 50 and I can’t believe it’s taken all this time for the penny to drop.
“I looked him up online and saw he used to do strippergrams under the name ‘Terry the Minder’ and that was the clincher because the chap who came to my house called himself Terry.
“I dug out pictures from the party and there’s no question it’s him.
“He seemed such a nice guy but it’s only now I realise it was all an act and I can see how his victims fell for it.
“It’s awful to think someone like that darkened our door.”
Attempted axe murder
Some of those working in the industry pose an even greater danger to men and women – murder.
In January 2023, former Dreamboys boss David Richards was jailed for 27 years for the attempted axe murder of his estranged wife.
Appearing in the 2013 Channel 4 documentary Confessions of a Male Stripper, he’d said: “I’ve always referred to myself as the Simon Cowell of the stripping world.
“The Dreamboys is the X Factor with c**k. It’s the Sex Factor.”
He had previously lived the high life in Essex driving around in a Range Rover with the personalised registration “KIT OFF”. Another registration plate read: “REEM XX”.
But his life quickly unravelled.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard he attacked Alex Alam with an axe at her home in Stock, Essex, in April 2022 after the breakdown of their relationship.
He had taken the weapon, as well as a dry suit and cable ties to the property having already “stalked and monitored” the scene prior to the attack.
He then lie in wait for five hours before pouncing on the former model after he had seen her kissing TV star Kirk Norcross – who shot to fame in The Only Way is Essex.
Ms Alam suffered a fractured skull and cuts in the “bloodbath” that ensued, but she was able to break away and lock Richards out before calling for help.
She had desperately FaceTimed Kirk on her iPad to tell him: “I am dying – he has killed me, he has done me.”
In March 2023, Richards, 42, was found dead in his cell at Lowdham Grange prison in Nottinghamshire.
How to report a sexual assault
- Contact a doctor or practice nurse at your GP surgery.
- Contact a voluntary organisation, such as Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Male Survivors Partnership.
- Call the 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247.
- Speak to the rape and sexual abuse support line run by Rape Crisis England and Wales – you can call the helpline on 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year).
‘Violated and traumatised’
In one Reddit thread a person questioned whether she’d been sexually assaulted by a male stripper, admitting she felt “violated and traumatised”.
The unidentified woman said she’d attended a bachelorette party – the US term for a hen do – and the performer was ordered to an Airbnb she was staying at with pals.
Each attendee was given a lap dance, but the woman said when it was her turn it was “very different”.
She described how she told him she was married and he whispered: “I love married women.”
There are multiple accounts online of women claiming to have been assaulted by strippers[/caption]
There appears to be little by way checks done on strippers’ backgrounds[/caption]
The woman said the stripper “forcibly spread my legs open and licked my inner upper thighs” as well as more intimate areas, over her underwear.
She added: “I was absolutely shook and kinda froze. I remember I just said ‘omg no.’”
However, she said the stripper proceeded to flip her over and grope her from behind, while also pulling down her underwear.
She said: “It was all so quick and I was frozen but it was that moment when I freaked out and just kinda stood up and rushed away to another room when I immediately started crying and hyperventilating.”
Former professional strippers responded to her, with one saying: “This was sexual assault. Lines can get blurred at the club but our job is ultimately all about consent.”
Another added: “That is absolutely not normal or professional whatsoever.”
‘A slab of muscle’
There are countless other accounts of a similar fashion across the web, but performers being attacked by customers is also an issue.
Mr Johnstone said he has dealt with “many cases” in sex work, including strippers, and “most of these cases relate to allegations made by sex workers against clients”.
Three strippers who are part of the London Dreamboys show told The Sun about some of the shocking behaviour they’re exposed to.
They claimed female guests at shows often try to grab their penises and put them in their mouths.
“If you put a large group of a single gender together and mix it with alcohol then things get tribal and raunchy very quickly – and that goes every bit as strongly to women as men,” stripper Javier Markham said.
Javier Markham, from Dreamboys, says women grope him at work[/caption]
Kelvin Valentine, also from Dreamboys, says it’s worse on pay day[/caption]
‘Sex work places all parties at risk of abuse or allegations’
Marcus Johnstone, managing director of PCD Solicitors – the only law firm specialising solely in sexual offence cases.
I have dealt with many cases involving ‘sex work’, including strippers.
Although most of these cases relate to allegations made by sex workers against clients, I have dealt with several cases where sex workers themselves have been accused of crimes, including rape and sexual assaults.
Generally, allegations against sex workers are made by women or men against male performers.
The problem with sex work is that it immediately places all parties at risk of abuse or allegations of abuse.
The transactional nature of these encounters and the frequent consumption of alcohol or drugs by one or both of the parties instantly blur the boundaries of consent and complicate the question of consent.
This is made worse by the unfortunate fact that many of those involved in this industry are often vulnerable, suffering from poor mental health, substance abuse, and/or exploitation by ‘barely legal’ establishments.
The combination of these factors puts everyone involved in significant legal and physical risk, and naturally makes these cases very difficult for the law to navigate (and for successful prosecutions to be brought).
In one case I dealt with last year, a young man was accused of sexually assaulting a female performer on a stag night during a one-to-one performance at a strip club.
The young man in question was heavily inebriated, but maintained that all physical contact with the girl was consensual, and did not go beyond what he was led to believe was consistent with the nature of the performance.
In another case, I advised a male performer at a gay club who was accused of sexually assaulting a customer.
The defendant argued that his contact with the complainant was typical of the ‘service’ expected by visitors to the establishment.
In both instances, the law ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to convict, which is typical of complex cases like these.
There are obviously times when the behaviour of performers or punters crosses the line into illegality, but the nature of strip clubs and similar environments makes proving guilt very difficult.
It is true that such establishments undoubtedly sometimes attract genuine predators who do abuse, taking advantage of vulnerable people and the blurred lines around consent.
But overwhelmingly, many of these allegations arise from genuine errors in communication, or the type of misunderstandings that come from excessive drinking in dark rooms.
Protecting people who do this work for a living is obviously incredibly important, but people who go into these environments should be extremely cautious that what they do legally can very easily be misconstrued.
‘Somebody is trying to kill you’
Meanwhile, in 1991, former Chippendales performer Read Scot was performing with his new exotic dance troupe Adonis in Blackpool when he was warned a possible hit had been put on him.
Two men in suits introduced themselves as being FBI agents and told Scot they had intercepted a call and believed a contract was out on him and two other Adonis members to be killed by cyanide injection.
“I couldn’t believe it was real,” he told ABC News in 2021. “I just couldn’t believe that somebody would do that to me. But once it sunk in, [I thought] this is serious. Somebody is trying to kill me.”
Chippendales founder Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee died in jail in 1994[/caption]
The Chippendales started in the US in the 1970s[/caption]
The subsequent investigation revealed it was Steve Banerjee, the founder of Chippendales, who was the mastermind behind multiple murder-for-hire plots, including one against Scot.
Banerjee would later be charged with enlisting the aid of former cop Ray Colon to murder his show’s producer Nick De Noia in 1987, and in 1990 and 1991, plotting to kill former dancer and choregrapher Michael Fullington and two other performers, including Read.
In 1994, a day before he was due to be sentenced, he took his own life.
Read said: “He got out easy. He was a coward.”
Domestic abuse – how to get help
DOMESTIC abuse can affect anyone – including men – and does not always involve physical violence.
Here are some signs that you could be in an abusive relationship:
- Emotional abuse – Including being belittled, blamed for the abuse – gaslighting – being isolated from family and friends, having no control over your finances, what you where and who you speak to
- Threats and intimidation – Some partners might threaten to kill or hurt you, destroy your belongings, stalk or harass you
- Physical abuse – This can range from slapping or hitting to being shoved over, choked or bitten.
- Sexual abuse – Being touched in a way you do not want to be touched, hurt during sex, pressured into sex or forced to have sex when you do not consent.
If any of the above apply to you or a friend, you can call these numbers:
- The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247 for free at any time, day or night
- Men who are being abused can call Respect Men’s Advice Line on 0808 8010 327 or ManKind on 0182 3334 244
- Those who identify as LGBT+ can ring Galop on 0800 999 5428
- If you are in immediate danger or fear for your life, always ring 999
Remember, you are not alone.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse over the course of their lifetime.
Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic abuse.
For Your Eyes Only
A male stripper called The Penetrator was jailed after being caught smuggling drugs.
Dad-of-two Colin Reah performed raunchy lap dances for women at the For Your Eyes Only club in Newcastle upon Tyne and was the first male lap dancer in the North East.
He bragged that women demanded he did “the Full Monty” for them and charged £10 per strip.
But ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis and ketamine were found in his bags at Leeds Bradford airport on route to Ibiza.
Reah, who wore fantasy outfits including sailors’ costumes, was jailed for 30 months in 2006 after pleading guilty at Leeds Crown Court.
Colin Reah was caught at Leeds Bradford Airport[/caption]
Speaking earlier about his job, Reah said: “When I am on stage I never get embarrassed unless something goes wrong, like I slip.
“We take everything off when we strip – the lasses go mad if you don’t.
“But the lap-dances are a bit more up-close and personal. It can be a bit humiliating if you’re cold.”
Reah came out of retirement for one last strip before hanging up his thong in 2021.
Spiked and robbed blind
Punters claimed they were spiked and robbed blind after a night of fun at a strip club in London’s Soho.
One victim allegedly woke to find £98,000 gone from his account after visiting the Vanity Bar and Nightclub in 2022.
Another said he was plundered of more than £16,000 and said he had no other memories until he woke up in a street near his home the following day.
Police believe customers were drugged and charged for expensive drinks and private dances they couldn’t remember ordering.
The club had its license suspended for three months in 2023 but later reopened.
A lawyer for the venue claimed men had come up with excuses after being caught out by wives and girlfriends.
Gary Grant told a council licensing hearing: “It is not uncommon during allegations for those men to say: ‘I’m sorry it wasn’t me, I must have had my drink spiked and that explains why I spent our summer holiday money on strippers.’
In Birmingham, the city’s notorious Legs 11 club lost its licence in 2017 after repeated allegations of customers being fleeced for tens of thousands.
Police alleged that up to £93,042 was taken from punters at the venue.
An undercover trading standards investigation also saw officers offered sexual services in a locked room for a fee of £1,000 and “rubbed” by naked dancers.
And SophistiCats, a famous gentlemen’s club in London, withheld thousands of pounds in dancers’ tips, claiming its performers had gone “too far” during private sessions.
Owner John McKeown revealed at a town hall meeting that he decided to return up to £3,000 each to some clients after complaints were made about dancers’ behaviour.
He said the money “had to go back to the customer because it just was not fair” after the performers, who earned up to £5,000 a week, “pushed the clients too far”.
Another SophistiCats venue in London’s Euston lost its licence in 2020 over claims drunk customers were scammed out of thousands of pounds – with one man charged £50,000 in a single night.
The club later reopened as a JD Wetherspoon pub called the Captain Flinders.
Meanwhile, private investigators employed by campaigners filmed inside Sheffield’s Spearmint Rhino, catching dancers and customers allegedly breaking contact rules.
Undercover filming in 2019 revealed more than 70 breaches of the adult club’s licence and 145 breaches of its own rules.
The club was shut down during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and did not reopen.
Falling foul of the taxman
While some strip clubs make headlines for sleaze, others have fallen foul of the taxman.
The Black Cherry Gentlemen’s Club in Worcester was fined £30,000 in 2021 after HM Revenues and Custom discovered £65,000 in unpaid taxes over two years.
The tax man said the club was not paying VAT on money that it held for dancers from card machine payments.
Another stripper failed to declare his x-rated earnings while receiving £40,000 in benefits.
Andrew Goodyer, 46, claimed tax support and housing payments while advertising his services for hen parties.
He performed at ladies’ nights and as a butler-in-the-buff under the stage name ‘Rebellion’.
Investigators caught him in 2020 after finding his social media pages, which included scantily-clad pictures of him flexing his muscles and dressed as a firefighter.
Andrew Goodyer was spared jail at Worcester Crown Court after admitting the two fraud charges[/caption]
Goodyer, of Gainsborough, Lincs, was spared jail after admitting the two fraud charges.
And in Cheltenham, three lap dancers and a manager were once charged with kidnapping a nightclub owner after a pay row turned ugly.
Curtis Woodman claimed he was taken in a bid to recover thousands of pounds the women claimed they had earned by stripping for punters during the prestigious Cheltenham Festival in September 2012.
Mr Woodman claimed that the women had ignored an undertaking to wear “bikinis and nipple tassels” at all times and had instead stripped off completely.
Mr Woodman alleged he was driven to a remote spot in Tewkesbury, Glos, where they forced him to hand over a £4,650 Breitling wristwatch and transfer nearly £5,000 from his bank account.
But dancers Mandy Cool, Rachel Goodchild and Stephanie Pye, and manager Charlotte Devaney convinced a jury that Mr Woodman concocted the kidnap story to avoid paying them
Ms Devaney, a DJ who has worked with Snoop Dogg, told Worcester Crown Court: “You don’t make girls take their clothes off and then not pay them to work. It is not a moral thing to do.”
X-rated America
Two New York strippers were convicted after drugging rich men and maxing out their cards in a scam dubbed “fishing”.
Roselyn Keo and Samantha Barbash targeted Wall Street bankers and businessmen, spiking drinks with MDMA and running up tens of thousands on credit cards while the men were semi-conscious.
The case in the 2000s and early 2010s inspired the hit film Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez.
Keo once recalled: “It sounds so bad to say that we were, like, drugging people.
“But it was, like, normal. What’s an extra $20,000 to them?”
Barbash, 51, was on probation for five years after pleading guilty to conspiracy, assault and grand larceny.
Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu star in Hustlers[/caption]
Keo, 41, also received probation, admitting to grand larceny and attempted assault.
In 2005, three strippers pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after the onstage beating of a punter with a wood paddle and a leather whip.
Truck driver Keith Lowery told investigators that he was handcuffed to a pole at the Sensations club and set upon by the dancers in Arkansas.
Lowery, who was celebrating his 31st birthday with pals, suffered bruises so severe that he was unable to sit comfortably for five days.
“We suggest cake and ice cream parties for birthdays,” joked prosecutor Larry Jegley.
‘The rules are quite clear’
In 2019, creep Amranuzzman Chowdhury was jailed for 15 months after sexually assaulting a dancer at a strip club before ejaculating on her leg.
The court heard the then-40-year-old chef had paid £20 for a private dance at the club in August 2017, reports The Independent.
However, Chowdhury had grabbed the woman and after a struggle she had fallen into a mirror – before feeling something warm on her bare legs which she realised was the attacker’s semen.
Julian Howells, prosecuting, told the court the establishment had strict rules which prohibited patrons from touching the dancers.
“The rules are quite clear. There is no contact with dancers,” he explained.
Amranuzzman Chowdhury was jailed for 15 months after sexually assaulting a dancer[/caption]
You’re Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk
- HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123
Do you know more? Email ryan.merrifield@thesun.co.uk
