Westminster resident pleads guilty to falsifying statements in attempt to shutter Heaven

A Westminster resident has pleaded guilty to falsifying letters of complaint in an attempt to close down nearby nightclub Heaven during a licensing review in 2024.

According to The Guardian, Aldo d’Aponte admitted to sending two letters pretending to be his neighbours, complaining to Westminster Council about the reopening of the Charing Cross LGBTQIA+ venue which had been temporarily shuttered when one of its security guards was charged with rape in November 2024. The staff member was later cleared of the offence.

In a statement shared via Instagram yesterday (April 16), Heaven's owner Jeremy Joseph said: "There were many things that happened during the hearing where we felt we were unfairly treated, yet had to stay silent in the fight to get Heaven reopened."

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Joseph says that a "large number of residents" had sent letters of complaint against Heaven, including a 2,000+ signature petition, which was initially accepted by the licensing committee despite the nightclub team's belief that they had been created by AI.

Lawyer Phillip Kolvin, who was representing Heaven during its licensing review, agreed to investigate their claims pro-bono and successfully persuaded the committee to ignore the letters.

d’Aponte, who is the CEO of a lettings and estate agency firm, was found to have sent letters complaining that he and his husband were being "disturbed" by noise from Heaven, and that the venue is “fundamentally at odds with family and community life in what is a residential neighbourhood”.

Police say they received a number of letters via email from encrypted addresses, but when they investigated the IPs, they discovered that many did not live at addresses they claimed to or did not exist at all. Two of those letters were tracked down to d’Aponte.

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The Guardian reports that "two further live cases police are exploring regarding false representations were written by AI", though in d’Aponte's case, the CPS did not mention the use of the technology during the court case.

d'Aponte later pleaded guilty to knowingly or recklessly making a false statement in connection with an application for a premises license under Section 158 of the Licensing Act 2003. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 court costs and £26 in damages to Heaven.

In his statement, Jeremy Joseph added: "The result of this case has demonstrated the danger of uncritical acceptance of licensing authorities of AI-generated content, and in particular if it comes from individuals whose identity has not been verified."

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X