Boy, 14, arrested after woman raped in nightclub toilet
A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after a woman was raped in a nightclub toilet – with security staff accused of leaving the victim inside a cubicle with her attacker.
It’s believed the woman and her friends were approached by a teenager offering to sell them drugs at the Bloom club in Manchester in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
He entered the male toilets with her and allegedly sexually assaulted her at around 4.15am.
A member of security staff went into the toilets and knocked on the cubicle door at one point, a Manchester City Council licensing hearing was told on Friday.
He is said to have realised there were two people inside, but allowed them to remain in there together and left.
PC Hammersley said: ‘I don’t think anything was said to him specifically about what was going on, but obviously, it wouldn’t be good practice for security to allow two people to remain in a toilet cubicle together without carrying out checks.’
Around 20 minutes after the attack, the victim is believed to have messaged for help from her friends, who then alerted staff.
A teenager was found outside the club but was allowed to leave when the victim said she didn’t want the police called, a police report to the city council said.
But around 5am, one of the woman’s friends contacted officers to report the incident, with cops then visiting the club.
A 14-year-old boy was later arrested on suspicion of rape and taken into custody for questioning. He was released on bail on Saturday as investigations continue.
PC Stuart Hammersley said he was ‘shocked’ Bloom Nightclub did not contact the police after the incident was reported to them.
‘Any forensic opportunities were lost’ as a result of this, he added.
The club’s licence was suspended with immediate effect at the committee hearing, pending a full review at the end of July. The panel said they were ‘gravely concerned’ at what they’d heard.
Club bosses ‘understand the seriousness of what happened’, their solicitor Stephanie Williams has said. The premises will remain closed as a ‘full investigation’ is launched.
In a statement, Bloom said staff are ‘working with the police and giving every assistance possible’.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Greater Manchester Police.
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