A NIGHTCLUB has been allowed to keep its licence despite being implicated in a catalogue of incidents including an alleged sex attack, underage drinking and violence.
Bosses at the Miami venue in Inverness were carpeted by Highland Licensing Board for the second time this year.
They were ordered to appear before councillors as the north’s health board was told that youngsters’ relatives and friends were fuelling the soaring number of under-18s ending up in hospitals after drinking binges.
But after being told the club has cracked down on underage revellers and was installing a fingerprint system linked to customers’ identification papers, licensing chiefs decided to take no further action.
In one incident in May, a 17-year-old girl woke up alone inside the upstairs VIP area after the club closed. She was eventually able to leave the building via a fire exit and later told police she had been sexually assaulted on the premises.
There were also reports in June that a 15-year-old girl was plied with drink at the nightclub and, in a separate incident in December last year, a 17-year-old girl was among the witnesses to an alleged unprovoked assault in the club.
All the incidents are being investigated by police.
Miami licensee and manager George MacLeod, and Amit Patni, who manages Aces bar below the club, were summoned before the board after police requested a review of their licence because of concerns for youngsters’ safety.
Councillors said they were concerned about the incidents, especially the one involving the girl who was locked in the club.
Councillor Ian Cockburn said they had to ensure such an incident never happened again.
The club’s solicitor, Lorna Murray, said that since the May incident involving the girl, more stringent procedures had been put in place for checking the club after it closes.
She said that in the six months to June, more than 63,000 people were allowed through the club’s doors, and another 2,500 refused entry because they had no ID or insufficient proof of their age.
Of the club’s 15 stewards, there are two each on the doors of Miami and Aces, with another steward patrolling the club with the sole task of challenging anyone thought to be aged under 18.
Ms Murray said that checks were not “a tick-box exercise” and any fake IDs were confiscated and letters sent to the homes of those involved. She added that the club had also written to police in November last year to alert them to the presence of high-quality fake IDs circulating in the Inverness area.
Ms Murray said that the fingerprint machine would scan a reveller’s identification and their fingerprint and reject fake ID. It will be installed within the next four weeks. But she added: “I do not think that anyone can say they will never admit under-18s.”
After hearing about the measures, councillors agreed that no action should be taken against the club.
Licensing board vice-convener Councillor Drew Miller said: “I think they have made every effort possible to ensure that as few underage people get past the doors as they humanly can.”
After the hearing, Mr MacLeod and Mr Patni said they were happy with the outcome.