Dreams Gentlemen’s Club in Elizabeth St receives disciplinary action for liquor licence breaches

The owner of a Melbourne strip club where an exotic dancer was found dead has been ordered to clean up the operation.

The owner of a city strip club where an off duty dancer was found dead has been fined $28,000 and ordered to clean up the operation.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission took disciplinary action against Dreams Gentlemen’s Club, in Elizabeth St, for multiple liquor licence breaches in the lead up to the death of UK backpacker Stacey Michelle Tierney on December 19, 2016.

On Sunday, December 18, Ms Tierney was drinking in a basement manager’s lounge between 5am and 10am with several other staff members including general manager Stephen Kyriacou, duty manager Giuseppe Crupi and recruitment co-ordinator Thomas Mesfun.

In the early afternoon Ms Tierney was noted to be snoring but by 5am the next morning there were concerns about her health and she was dead by about 11.45am when the alarm was raised.

British tourist Stacey Tierney died at Dreams Gentlemen’s Club in 2016. Picture: Instagram

Pathology reports confirmed Ms Tierney died from ‘multidrug toxicity’.

A commission ruling on Thursday found that the club supplied liquor outside of trading hours, supplied liquor to intoxicated persons, permitted drunken people to be on licensed premises, failed to adequately supervise and failed to adequately develop house rules.

It also said at the time of Ms Tierney’s death Mr Aparo was unsuitable to hold a license.

A public hearing last month heard director Salvatore Aparo was a hand offs operator, leaving the operation of the club to staff.

His company, Aparo Management Enterprises Pty Ltd has three months to pay the $28,000 fine.

Dreams Gentlemen's Club has been fined for multiple liquor licence breaches. Picture: AAP

The commission added conditions to the late night licence, requiring Mr Aparo to install a 24-hour alarm system to notify him if the alarm was not set within 2 hours of the venue closing to ensure that no one stayed at the club beyond operating hours.

Mr Aparo also has to engage an independent risk management consultant to monitor systems, practices and procedures quarterly.

Mr Kyriacou and Mr Mesfun have been banned from being involved in the management of any licensed premises for 12 months from July 1, 2022.

Mr Crupi has been disqualified for 3 months.

Pathology reports confirmed dancer Stacey Tierney died from ‘multidrug toxicity’. Picture: Instagram

VGCCC commissioner Danielle Huntersmith said the licensee and management failed to deliver on their duty of care.

“The commission expects venue staff to go back home safely after their shift. However, in what is a tragic set of circumstances this didn’t eventuate for Ms Tierney and we offer our condolences to her family,” she said.

“Management and staff regularly consumed alcohol in the Manager’s Lounge and there were no systems in place to control the removal and consumption of alcohol which contributed to the misuse and abuse of alcohol.”

Although Mr Aparo was not present during the incident, the commission said he failed to adequately oversee his management team at the time of the incident.

“However, we acknowledge the director’s remorse and since 2017, he has had visibility into all the operations of the business, including implementing practices, policies and procedures to protect staff, contractors and patrons,” Ms Huntersmith said.

The commission also noted that the combination of other inquiries and Covid meant that the matter had taken a long time to come to hearing.

Billed as Melbourne’s sexiest tabletop dancing venue, Mr Aparo told the hearing in May the fallout of Ms Tierney’s death had damaged the business’s reputation and put his own plans on hold.

He described it as a “very emotional rollercoaster”.

While he accepted a “lot of responsibility” it could only go so far, he said.

When asked if he put his trust in the wrong people, Mr Aparo said: “We all learn by our mistakes”.