Who was Stacey Tierney? Owner of Dreams club where exotic dancer died of drug overdose faces inquiry
The owner of a strip club where an exotic dancer lay dead for more than a day in 2016, is defending his business practices in order to save his liquor license. Stacey Tierney, 29, died in a VIP lounge at Dreams Gentlemen's Club two days before Christmas 2016 from a cocktail of drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, and heroin.
There was a culture of personnel drinking at the club on their days off, according to a Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission investigation. Club owner Salvatore Aparo claimed, adding that he let managers operate it while he focused on another business, “We did not have a rule about upper management not being able to come in on their night off.” He stated he was a 'hands-off' manager at the time, but that he is now a hands-on owner, running the club with his fiance in Elizabeth St, Melbourne.
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Who was Stacey Tierney?
Stacey Tierney, a Manchester-born fitness teacher, was discovered dead in a strip club where she was working. The 29-year-old had been residing in Australia for three years and was known to have worked at two other Melbourne clubs. Friends told Australian media that the former fitness trainer was a healthy girl who avoided drugs and was streetwise, despite her social media sites being littered with photographs of herself in bikinis onboard yachts. In 2016 Tierney, went into the private room, and more than 30 hours passed until her body was taken from the premises by ambulance officers.
Aparo told a hearing examining his competence to hold a liquor license that he had been 'hands-off' and trusted others to run the club until Tierney's death. He ran a construction company and handed the management of Dreams Gentlemen's Club to others, visiting just a few times each week, according to Aparo. He also claimed that Tierney's death, was a ‘very emotional rollercoaster’ for him and it had harmed the company's reputation. According to the Herald Sun, he said he took a 'lot of responsibility,’ but it could only go so far. When questioned if he put his confidence in the wrong people, he replied, “We all learn by our mistakes.”
He also refuted the claim that the club was open after hours or outside of its license hours, and claimed to run a ‘very respectable company.’ Aparo was also questioned about the manager's lounge where Tierney’s body was found. He said it was his private room, Managers, and said that managers had access to it and 24-hour access to the club. He said that after implementing new processes, the club was now better administered.
Meanwhile, The Gambling and Casino Control Commission is set to visit the club next week and make a decision on the liquor license in June. Moreover, Tierney's family accused persons who were at the club when she died of being 'inhumane' at an inquiry into her death conducted in Stockport of the UK in 2018.