A security guard at one of London’s most iconic nightclubs, Heaven, has gone on trial accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in his car following a Halloween event, a court has heard.
Morenikeji Adewole, from Dartford in Kent, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the woman in the early hours of 1 November 2024, after she was refused entry to the nightclub’s Halloween night due to overcrowding. He denies the charge.
Southwark Crown Court was told the complainant, a devout Christian, had been out with friends on the evening of 31 October but only some of the group gained entry to the club. Left outside, the teenager was said to be heavily intoxicated, stumbling, and struggling to remain upright, as shown in CCTV footage presented to the jury.
Prosecutor Marion Smullen told the court that Adewole, wearing high-visibility security clothing, was seen on CCTV later that night walking alone with the complainant along Villiers Street, where the club is situated. At times, the teenager was seen collapsing and bending over, clearly intoxicated and vulnerable.
The court heard that she had asked Adewole for help in finding her friend. “Obviously at this point I was drunk,” she later told the court. “He led me up the queue and after that I couldn’t really remember. I was stumbling—I couldn’t walk straight.”
Further footage showed the pair in a tunnel near York Buildings, where the woman appeared unsteady and disoriented. The prosecution alleges Adewole then retrieved his car—a Lexus—and the complainant got into the front passenger seat.
She claims to have no recollection of entering the vehicle and told police in a recorded interview played to the jury that she had “passed out” in the back seat. She later regained some awareness and described Adewole attempting to penetrate her. “I tried to push him away,” she said. “He carried on. I felt he was wearing a condom.”
She told officers: “I was saving myself until marriage. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I felt violated.”
Prosecutor Smullen said the incident took place on a small road called Adelphi Terrace, where the woman believes the rape occurred. She described regaining consciousness during the act, feeling powerless due to her intoxicated state. “It was the small amount of protest I could muster… I didn’t have control of my physical anatomy,” she told jurors.
Mr Stephan Alfred, defending Adewole, argued the sexual encounter was consensual and claimed the complainant willingly moved from the front seat to the back in order to engage in sex. He also alleged that she later told friends, “I f***** him,” and claimed she agreed to have sex in exchange for club entry. The woman denied both assertions.
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She told the court she remembered walking away from the scene in distress and later breaking down in tears when reunited with her friends. “I felt disgusting. I was so upset. I was bawling my eyes out,” she said.
Adewole was traced via his vehicle and arrested at Heaven nightclub on 11 November 2024. He was found with the Lexus keys in his possession and gave mostly “no comment” responses during police questioning.
The complainant said she had visited Heaven “two or three weeks earlier”, but denied any previous interaction or flirtation with the defendant, contradicting the defence’s suggestion of prior familiarity.
The trial, which continues at Southwark Crown Court, is expected to run for several more days. Heaven nightclub has been approached for comment.
