Lapdancers Cleared Of Cheltenham Boss Kidnap

The women say Curtis Woodman refused to pay them £42,000, but he insisted they were to blame for the closure of his pop-up club.

3:48pm UK, Friday 31 January 2014

From l-r: Mandy Cool, Rachel Goodchild, Charlotte Devaney and Stephanie Pye

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An actress and three lapdancers have been cleared of kidnapping a club boss who owed them £42,000 in unpaid wages.

DJ, actress and producer Charlotte Devaney, 34, and lapdancers Mandy Cool, Stephanie Pye, and Rachel Goodchild had denied a charge of kidnapping 34-year-old Curtis Woodman.
The court had been told how Ms Devaney, who credits include Hollywood comedy How To Lose Friends and Alienate People and a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg on her latest single, Flip It, had recruited 60 lapdancers to work at Mr Curtis's pop-up nightclub during the Cheltenham Festival.
Authorities closed the club on its third night because the girls had taken off all their clothes, despite rules ordering them to wear nipple tassels and bikinis.
Subsequently, Mr Woodman refused to pay Ms Devaney and the lapdancers the money they had earned during the time the club was open.
Six months later he told Bristol Crown Court, Ms Devaney, three dancers and two brothers, who had been hired as "heavies", arrived at his work premises in Tewkesbury.

Ms Devaney has worked with Snoop Dogg in the past

The local businessman claimed he was bundled into a BMW, beaten up and forced to transfer £4,800 into Ms Devaney's bank account during a "terrifying" two-hour ordeal.
Mr Woodman said he was "surrounded" by the women - dressed in miniskirts, Daisy Duke shorts and stilettos - and feared for his life.
He blamed the women for causing the closure of the club, arguing they had breached their contracts.
"If you have ever asked a stripper to keep her clothes on when she is working, it doesn't happen," Mr Woodman, who gave evidence behind a screen, told the jury.
"I was constantly bombarding them - 'Put your clothes on, we are going to get shut down'."
Brothers Alex Morris, 23, and Robert, 27, had also denied the kidnap charge, along with two counts of robbery - relating to £60 cash and Mr Woodman's £4,650 Breitling Skyland Avenger watch.
Robert Morris was cleared on all counts while brother Alex, who was not in court, was cleared of the kidnap charge but convicted over the robberies.
Miss Devaney, Miss Goodchild, Miss Cool, Miss Pye and Robert Morris screamed, hugged and wept loudly as the verdicts were returned.
Speaking outside court on behalf of the women, Miss Devaney said: "It is the right verdict. We are now looking forward to getting on with our lives now."
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