Private rooms were hired for as little as £5 per hour.
The Big Break Snooker Club in Birmingham lost its licence on May 20, 2015 in light of its involvement in criminal activities.
Birmingham City Council revoked its operating licence upon hearing damning evidence of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).
Robberies, ‘Class A’ drug dealing and assaults made to public customers in the surrounding area were also reported.
Inspector Will O’Connor said multiple claims had pieced together a ‘pattern of young women or girls entering the club with older men’.
He went on to add the Digbeth club was a hotspot ‘for young men to meet, use and supply drugs, commit crime and engage in sexual activity’.
Reports of girls as young as 14 entering the club surfaced as far back as January 2014. Private rooms were hired for as little as £5 per hour.
Of the 16 rooms at the premise, 8 were allegedly not physically suitable for playing snooker.
Inspector Will O’Connor added: “Information we uncovered suggests the girls had gone on to spend time in private rooms with the men, where they were exposed to alcohol and drugs and groomed for sexual activity.”
High levels of robberies were reported to the police both inside the club and in the surrounding area.
Heroin, crack cocaine, weapons and used condoms were discovered in March 2015 following a police search.
Other reported claims involving the snooker club include:
- 4 persons are at risk of CSE
- Two girls aged 15 and 17 were trafficked into the club from another UK city
- 14-year-old girls were supplied with cannabis and alcohol
- A known CSE offender hired a room with 5 young girls on November 8, 2014 entering. One of the girls later made an allegation of rape.
- A 14-year-old girl at risk of CSE went missing in December 2014 after being seen at the club. She was later found and claimed she had checked into a hotel with her 20-year-old ‘boyfriend’.
As a result, the Council agreed to revoke the club’s license to ‘promote the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, and the protection of children from harm’.
Managers of the snooker club and brothers-in-law Qumar Zaman and Hissam Khaliq were not present at the hearing.
Zaman said in a statement: “Since we have been open we have never had any problems with weapons, Class A drugs or fights in the premises.
“We will not tolerate such things. Occasionally, cannabis is smoked without us knowing in our private rooms or customers have smoked cannabis prior to attending. We try to contain this as much as possible.”
Despite voluntarily closing the club in March 2015 to make improvements, they could not retain control of illegal activities running wild in the club.
What followed was a three month closure granted by the Birmingham Magistrates Court on May 1, 2015.
All allegations have remained unchallenged by the venue owners. Police have also confirmed investigations are ongoing.
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