Nightclub Boss Curtis Woodman 'Kidnapped' By Stiletto-Wearing Lapdancers, Court Hears

Nightclub Boss 'Kidnapped' By Angry, Stiletto-Wearing Lapdancers
The women believed he owed them more than £42,000 for work they carried out at his pop-up nightclub (file photo)
The women believed he owed them more than £42,000 for work they carried out at his pop-up nightclub (file photo)
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A club boss has told a court of the moment he was kidnapped by three lapdancers and their manager - with the women wearing "miniskirts, stilettos and Daisy Duke shorts".

Curtis Woodman was outside his work premises in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, when the women and two men drove up in two BMWs.

Woodman told jurors at Bristol Crown Court the group "surrounded him" before bundling him into one of the vehicles and driving off.

It is alleged that Woodman, from Cheltenham, was kidnapped, robbed of £60 cash and his £4,650 Brietling watch, and assaulted during the two-hour incident on September 3 2012.

Woodman also claims he was forced to transfer £4,800 into the bank account of the lapdancers' manager, Charlotte Devaney, while in the vehicle.

The women believed he owed them more than £42,000 for work they carried out at his pop-up nightclub during the Cheltenham Festival in March 2012.

Taking to the witness stand, Woodman said he had received calls demanding the money from Charlotte Devaney, 34, for months.

He said he recognised Devaney and lapdancers Mandy Cool, 29, Stephanie Pye, 31, and Rachel Goodchild, 24, when they arrived at his work at around 4pm.

Brothers Robert Morris, 27, who Woodman said looked like "Will Smith or Craig David" and Alexander Morris, 23, were also with the women.

"I was already stood outside when they pulled up," said Woodman, who stood behind a screen to give evidence.

"I wasn't given the chance to say anything, to be honest. They surrounded me.

"I was worried for my safety. He (Alexander Morris) pushed me in the car, he followed me and he sat next to me.

"He had a knife on him."

Representing Robert Morris, Khalid Missouri suggested that Woodman had entered the car by his own free will.

"That doesn't sound like people who would want to kidnap someone, does it?" he asked.

"Coming back to the real world: stilettos, miniskirts, guys in normal clothing, Daisy Dukes?

"That doesn't sound like an intention to kidnap you."

Woodman replied: "There was obviously some intention."

He denied claims he had told the group he did not want to discuss the matter there and suggested going elsewhere.

Woodman also denied he was assaulted by Robert Morris after insulting his girlfriend, Mandy Cool, as they travelled in the car.

"You were saying to Robert Morris, 'what are you doing with her for? Look what she does with her money, she's not even good looking'.

"That's the first time Robert Morris punched you, because you were disrespecting his girlfriend."

He denied he had shown Robert Morris nude pictures of his girlfriend, who had recently undergone breast enhancement surgery.

The court was also played the second hour of Mr Woodman's police interview, taken the day after the alleged kidnapping.

He described his Brietling watch, later found in the anus of Alexander Morris, as his "pride and joy".

"It is a Breitling Avenger Skyland with a 44mm face," he said. "It is my pride and joy."

Yesterday, the jury heard Woodman rented the Embassy Club in Cheltenham, which did not hold a lapdancing licence, for five days during the Cheltenham Festival.

When the club opened, some of the girls were hired to work as dancers and hostesses "insisted on taking their clothes off".

They had allegedly previously signed contracts agreeing to wear "bikinis and nipple tassels at all times" to comply with the licence.

On the third night of the club opening, police and officials shut it down after receiving complaints.

The girls had already earned "considerable amounts of money", including £42,000 from one customer, but Woodman refused to pay them, the court heard.

He felt that the girls were not entitled to the money, as they had failed to comply with the terms of their contracts.

Their contracts including a clause stating they agreed to forfeit any commission earned if they did not keep to the rules, prosecutor Martin Steen told the jury.

Alexander Morris, from Southampton, has admitted carrying a bladed article, namely a Stanley knife, on September 3 2012, the day of the alleged kidnap.

He denies a charge of robbery, along with Robert Morris, also from Southampton, concerning Woodman's Breitling watch.

The brothers are also charged with robbery, concerning £60 Mr Woodman gave them from his pocket before his release. They deny the charge.

Devaney, from London; Pye, from Sutton Coldfield; Cool, of Southampton; and Goodchild, of Southampton, each deny a charge of kidnap on September 3 2012.

The trial, in front of judge Geoffrey Mercer and expected to last up to three weeks, continues.

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