Iconic LGBTQ+ nightclub Heaven located in the heart of London faced being closed down ‘any minute’ following a deluge of fake complaints made with AI.
Heaven, on Villiers Street in Charing Cross, was the subject of around 20 complaints written by people ‘who simply did not exist’ to close the LGBTQ+ venue for good.
Local Aldo d’Aponte, 47, admitted to writing two of the fake letters after the IP address was traced back to him.
It is believed to be the first time someone has used AI to submit disinformation to a licensing process.
But owner Jeremy Joseph said it calls into question the entire system if anyone is able to submit fake complaints.
He said: ‘What he put us through was never made public; it was the worst time of my life.’
The nightclub was closed at the time due to an ongoing rape trial, with the fake letters urging the council not to let them reopen despite being one of the most popular venues in London.
The sheer number of complaints prompted a sound test, but there were no grounds to lower the club’s noise limit, despite Jeremy claiming to have turned up the volume to ‘way beyond the level they would have it’.
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It was only when Philip Kolvin KC put the complaints through a detector which found they had almost certainly been written using AI.
He then found the people who had written the complaints did not actually exist, or live at the addresses they claimed as their home.
‘I was fighting for my business life’
During d’Aponte’s court appearance, he said he regretted his actions but went on to describe the club as a ‘nuisance’.
And due to the guilty plea, Jeremy was unable to read out his victim impact statement, despite ‘fighting for his business life for the last year and four months’.
Jeremy said: ‘We have left the hearing feeling more deflated despite receiving some justice. He just used the court appearance as a chance to slag us off.’
The businessman was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £26 victim surcharge.
Michael Kill, CEO, Night Time Industries Association, said: ‘This represents a significant moment, not just in this individual case, but for the integrity of the UK’s licensing system as a whole.
‘This case exposes the pressures placed on a system that must often act on incomplete information and underlines the need for stronger safeguards to ensure decisions are proportionate, consistent, and evidence-led.’
Metro has contacted Westminster Council for comment.
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