A security guard at a popular London nightclub accused of raping a 19-year-old woman used a fake ID to get his job, a court has heard.
Morenikeji Adewole, 47, of Dartford, Kent, also gave a fake name to police when he was arrested following the alleged rape at Heaven nightclub in Soho, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Adewole is facing accusations of raping the teenager in his car near the club in the early hours of November 1, 2024, which he denies.
Jurors were previously told that the woman was visibly drunk and stumbling, and that a person can be too intoxicated to give proper consent.
Today, the jury heard Adewole was in the UK on a five-year tourist visa that did not allow him to work in the country.
It also meant he could not stay for more than six months at a time, and he returned to Nigeria when those stints were up.
Adewole previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of an identification document with improper intention.
He was charged with having a false Immigration Residence Permit Identity Card under the name of Olusola Julius Alabi and a false SIA (Security Industry Authority) card with the name O Alabi.
The defendant had been employed at Heaven under the name Olusola Julius Alabi, but officers discovered his real name through fingerprint evidence after his arrest.
Adewole said he ‘used a false ID to obtain work, to get a job’ and that it was ‘to make a living… to save for my partner – I’m the one who paid for the rent’.
Asked why he gave officers a false name, he said: ‘I was panicking, that’s the name people call me at my work.’
At the time of the alleged rape he was living in an apartment with his partner and at work supervised three other Heaven security guards.
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He said he had met the accuser, who cannot be identified, months before the incident when she said hello to him at the club.
On the the night of the alleged rape she said, ‘Hello uncle how are you’, called him handsome and allegedly kissed him.
Adewole, who wore a blue suit and tie, added that ‘almost every night’ at work, he has ‘interactions’ that can include people trying to kiss him.
He said he told her to stop, and she later asked him for water.
‘I told her I can’t go inside the club to get her water, but I have water in my car,’ he added.
The defendant said he then took a work break and walked with the woman and her friend to his nearby Lexus and gave the friend water, which the complainant also drank.
He said the woman needed the toilet and he went with her to a nearby tunnel, leaving the friend.
The teenager asked him to join her because ‘the phone snatcher and the bag snatcher’ operated nearby.
Footage appeared to show her stumbling in the tunnel that was behind a shutter.
Prosecutor Marion Smullen said the complainant could be seen falling and asked Adewole why he did not radio for assistance. He said he didn’t contact welfare or a medic for ‘this kind of falling’.
Adewole claimed that the teenager said she ‘wanted sex from him’ but that he told her this could not happen in the tunnel, so he drove her in his car to nearby Adelphi Terrace.
It is alleged that he then raped her in the back seat of the parked vehicle.
Adewole claimed there was sexual activity, but he did not have penetrative intercourse with the woman.
He added that the woman had earlier told him she was 25 years old, but in the car, she said she was 19, and he stopped because he ‘can’t date someone below 25’.
He said he has a science degree and had previously been employed as a hydraulic and civil engineer, meaning he worked on construction and roadworks.
The trial continues.
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