Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rosemount Hotel attack by pub bouncer

INVESTIGATION: Rosemount Hotel bosses have launched an investigation into an alleged assault by a bouncer on a drunken patron.
A PERTH hotel has launched an investigation into a vicious assault on a drunk customer by a bouncer.

The doorman punched the struggling patron at least six times after dragging him by the neck to a dark area of the car park of the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth.

Three other bouncers watched as he threw the customer to the ground and assaulted him.

The incident which happened about 10pm on Thursday was filmed by another customer who asked to be known as Shonquice.

It is understood the man had been asked to leave the hotel after an incident.

``The guy was obviously drunk and had clearly been ejected from the pub,'' Shonquice said.

``He was giving a mouthful to the bouncers and when he put his fists up one of the bouncers didn't take to kindly to it.

``He grabbed him, walked him off, laid into him and then just walked away.

``There were four bouncers. He was no danger to them.

``The bouncers were pretty excessive. I think they feel they can do what they like.

``This was over the top, he wasn't putting up much of a fight.''

Shonquice checked on the victim after the bouncers walked away.

``He seemed OK but was completely out of it,'' he said.

``A couple of minutes later I thought I should go and check on him again and he was gone.

``He was so drunk that when he woke up in the morning he probably wouldn't have had any idea what happened.''

Shonquice was seen by the bouncers filming the incident but they did not approach him.

``I heard the guy who hit him say something like `he's breathing','' he said.

``The guy didn't give a s**t.

`The others were saying things to him like ``you're a bit of an idiot. Look what you've done'.''

Shonquice said that one of the bouncers, not the one involved, had offered to call the customer a taxi.

``He made the offer while the guy was being lippy. He should have accepted it and gone home,'' he said.

A hotel spokeswoman said the bouncer, who works for the Protective Services company, would not be used at the hotel again.

The company's contract with the hotel was also in doubt.

The Rosemount spokeswoman, who discussed the incident with the security company after watching the vision for the first time yesterday, said a report on the incident had been filed by the security staff.

A police spokeswoman said there had been no report or complaint about the incident and St John Ambulance said they were not called to assist any patients in the area.

Protective Services did not return calls from The Sunday Times.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Burswood Assault

Britney's men 'threw me to the ground'
RONAN O'CONNELL, The West Australian November 11, 2009, 5:31 am

WAN / Mogens Johansen ©
A 24-year-old Port Kennedy father says he will be unable to work for at least two months after his arm was broken in three places when he was allegedly dragged down a flight of stairs by a group of security guards at the Britney Spears' concert at Burswood at the weekend.
Ashley Hartley said yesterday he had been due to start a lucrative new job on a Karratha mine site today but could lose out on the position because of the "thuggish" actions of up to five guards, who ejected him from the Burswood Dome about 7.30pm on Friday night before the concert began.
He spent five hours on Monday having surgery on his right arm in Royal Perth Hospital after it broke in three places between his shoulder and elbow. Mr Hartley and his sister Jodie Wiltschut claimed that he had been buying a drink prior to the concert when he became involved in an argument with a security guard.
Mr Hartley said he had told the guard to leave him alone but he had called for back-up and four other guards had then arrived.
"They grabbed hold of me and just dragged me away from my seat," Mr Hartley said. "Next thing I knew they are dragging me down a flight of stairs and I felt a huge pain in my arm. They threw me on the ground outside and kept abusing me."
Mr Hartley said he had made a formal complaint to Burswood and planned to report the incident to police.
He said he would be financially crippled because of his injury and would struggle to meet his rent and car repayments and care for his two-year-old daughter.
A spokeswoman for Burswood said it was "inappropriate" to comment because police might investigate the incident.

Burswood Assault

Britney's men 'threw me to the ground'
RONAN O'CONNELL, The West Australian November 11, 2009, 5:31 am

WAN / Mogens Johansen ©
A 24-year-old Port Kennedy father says he will be unable to work for at least two months after his arm was broken in three places when he was allegedly dragged down a flight of stairs by a group of security guards at the Britney Spears' concert at Burswood at the weekend.
Ashley Hartley said yesterday he had been due to start a lucrative new job on a Karratha mine site today but could lose out on the position because of the "thuggish" actions of up to five guards, who ejected him from the Burswood Dome about 7.30pm on Friday night before the concert began.
He spent five hours on Monday having surgery on his right arm in Royal Perth Hospital after it broke in three places between his shoulder and elbow. Mr Hartley and his sister Jodie Wiltschut claimed that he had been buying a drink prior to the concert when he became involved in an argument with a security guard.
Mr Hartley said he had told the guard to leave him alone but he had called for back-up and four other guards had then arrived.
"They grabbed hold of me and just dragged me away from my seat," Mr Hartley said. "Next thing I knew they are dragging me down a flight of stairs and I felt a huge pain in my arm. They threw me on the ground outside and kept abusing me."
Mr Hartley said he had made a formal complaint to Burswood and planned to report the incident to police.
He said he would be financially crippled because of his injury and would struggle to meet his rent and car repayments and care for his two-year-old daughter.
A spokeswoman for Burswood said it was "inappropriate" to comment because police might investigate the incident.

Doubt over Rottnest hotel

BEATRICE THOMAS, The West Australian November 11, 2009, 2:15 am

WA TOURISM COMMISSION / UNKNOWN ©
Some of Perth's leading developers have cast doubts on plans for the long-planned luxury hotel on Mt Herschel as the Rottnest Island Authority prepares for a second attempt to find a developer for the project.
The project collapsed in March after more than two years of negotiations when a consortium led by Broadwater Hotels and Resorts pulled out.
Broadwater chief Scott Cogar blamed the failed deal, which came after the consortium invested $1 million, on an 11th-hour decision by the RIA to shift all "hidden" site risks to the group.
RIA chairman Laurie O'Meara confirmed this week that a new tender for the project was likely to be sought in the next two weeks.
Developer Barry Humfrey, whose company made up one-third of the consortium, ruled out tendering. "We've been through that once, and not again," he said.
Mr Humfrey also questioned the level of interest in the development in the current market.
David Kennedy, director of hotels at real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis, said developers would have to overcome challenges such as carting materials to the island and the ongoing costs of running a hotel on an island.
He said hotel developments were hard enough to get off the ground in Perth let alone on Rottnest. "I don't see it being simple at all," he said.
Tom Galopoulos, whose company Saruman Holdings bid for the first tender, said he would be surprised if there was any interest given the short lease offered last time and RIA constraints on the developer.
"People have rung me and I've just told them the same thing. I don't think anyone would be stupid enough, especially in these times," he said.
Seashells Hospitality Group managing director and WA Tourism Council president Paul King said his company would not re-tender and that the Government should build the hotel and lease it to an operator if it wanted it built on the island.
Brookfield Multiplex and Mirvac Fini also said they were not interested.
Luke Saraceni, of Saracen Properties, said he would look at the project but believed hotel operators would be unwilling to pay more than a management fee to run the hotel, making it "unbankable" for developers.
Mr O'Meara, who initially flagged the new tender process to start in May, said the delay was unjustifiable and frustrating but the RIA was "making sure that we get it very carefully done".
He said there had been early interest from companies in the Eastern States and overseas to build the four-star hotel.

Drinkers should accept responsibility - AHA

AAP
November 11, 2009
A HIGH Court ruling that has cleared any duty of care pubs owe customers for how much alcohol they consume may strain relationships between small town publicans and their local customers, the peak body representing hotels and pubs says.
The High Court overturned a Tasmanian Supreme Court ruling that had ultimately found a pub and its licensee had breached duties of care which led a customer's death. The case examined whether the pub had breached duties of care involving returning the patron's keys to him prior to his motorbike crash and death in 2002.
Australian Hotels Association spokesman Hamish Arthur said the case was an "extremely tragic event" that did little to ease the pain of the family concerned.
But the ruling has helped to clarify the legal obligation that pubs owe people who have been drinking, he says.
"I think what we saw yesterday reinforced the need for customers in all licensed premises across Australia, not just hotels, to take responsibility for their own actions," Mr Arthur told ABC Radio.
While respecting the High Court's ruling, Mr Arthur conceded the decision may impact the relationships between publicans and their customers in regional areas.
"If you ever go to a regional or rural part of Australia, you would find that there are people that live locally that drink alcohol and other beverages at their local hotel and there's a different kind of relationship. It's a very complex one."
But any decisions made came down to individual circumstances, he said.
"Seventy per cent of alcohol is now consumed away from licensed premises and often we're seeing the situation where people are coming to licensed premises across Australia where they've been consuming alcohol or other substances before they get there."
Hoteliers were in a difficult situation to determine when a person had reached their alcohol limit, he said.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

One-in-four drivers over limit

Sunday Times Nick Taylor
September 05, 2009 06:00pm
EXCLUSIVE: THE WA Government will overhaul its $1m anti-drink drive campaign after it was revealed one in four had driven over or near the alcohol limit in the past year.
The figures, contained in a new government internal report, have prompted road safety experts to come up with a hard-hitting campaign pinpointing where every drink driver has been busted, to prove there are no so-called safe roads. It will be launched later this year.

The figures were revealed in a comprehensive survey of road safety. It also revealed motorists believe the chance of being caught on a midweek random breath test was relatively low and that one in five drivers do not know, or incorrectly assumed, the legal blood-alcohol limit.

The Road Safety Council spent about $4m of its $15m budget on road safety campaigns last year as part of the ``Towards Zero'' strategy aiming at a 40 per cent drop in people killed or seriously injured on WA roads by 2020.

Office of Road Safety executive director Iain Cameron said the change in strategy was not an admission that previous campaigns had failed.

``Drink driving is not an easy message to sell and it's not glib to say any negative trend concerns us,'' he said.

``We have to adjust our focus. We're not being complacent.

``Our challenge is to know where the community is at and this survey tell us what we need to look at, what is going on.''

The office was working with police on a new campaign that shows where drivers are caught.

``Police are targeting specific hotspots and have told us they are catching more drink-drivers,'' he said. ``What we don't want is people who are not in those targeted areas to think it's OK to drink and drive because they won't get caught.

``We want to keep them honest.''

The Sunday Times revealed in June that 3801 drivers were charged after booze bus tests -- up almost 1000 on the previous year and the most in five years.

The number of drivers who had been drinking when they took an initial breath test also rose more than 1100 to 4573.

Mr Cameron said most drivers were responsible, but there were a group that lapsed into drink-driving. Many found the concept of ``standard drinks' hard to accept.

The report, Road Safety in WA - the Community Perspective, is an ongoing survey that started a year ago. It questions 110 people a week -- 60 from regional WA and 50 from the metropolitan area.

Professor Ian Johnson, interim head of Curtin-Monash Universities Accident Research Centre said RBTs had a considerable effect when introduced because people were talking about them.

``There was a bigger perception of them being on the roads,'' he said.

``What we have to do now is keep police numbers up and regenerate interest. That is why this campaign is good because it will become a talking point.''

Opposition road safety spokeswoman Margaret Quirk said the survey was a powerful incentive for Road Safety Minister Rob Johnson to secure funding for ``Towards Zero''.

``Although he announced the strategy in March, Mr Johnson has failed to secure any funding for this critical program,'' she said.

``The Minister must immediately fund and implement the programs that will make both metropolitan and regional roads safer and restore the confidence of WA motorists.''

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Eddie Withnell Banned

Coffin Cheater Eddie Withnell was this week banned from "entering or working in licensed premises, including nightclubs, pubs with extended trading hours permits, and licensed hotels and restaurants for a period of 5 years."

The ban was imposed by the Western Australian Liquor Commission after an application by Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan.

"The Liquor Commission has agreed with our submission that Mr Withnell is not a suitable person to be employed by licensed premises," Mr O'Callaghan said

The banned was issued by the Liquor Commission and relied on confidential police documents in handing down its decision. Whilst Mr Withnell has a criminal history he has been out of prison for 24 years.


Pubs may sue glassing 'grubs'

Article from: Australian Associated Press
HOTELIERS who sue people who "glass" other patrons might send society a worthwhile message, but they shouldn't count on receiving any damages awarded by a court, says a Brisbane lawyer.
Managers of Brisbane's Chalk Hotel are considering legal action against a 27-year-old man who allegedly threw a glass at a patron on Saturday morning, hitting another man's face and almost causing the loss of an eye.
Compensation law expert Mark O'Connor said he expected other hotels to follow suit, but he warned them that a successful civil compensation suit for loss of business reputation and threatening the safety of patrons could be a hollow victory.
"The sort of people who glass others in bars are generally grubs and they most likely don't have any money, and it's unlikely they would be able to pay up thousands of dollars in compensation," Mr O'Connor said.
"However, it's important for the hotels to send a message that they won't tolerate this sort of behaviour because patron safety, business reputations and livelihoods depend on a safe drinking environment."
A hotel could argue that because of the attacker's actions, the hotel's trade had been affected, staff disrupted and other patrons would be fearful of drinking at the hotel, which would damage goodwill and lead to lost trade, Mr O'Connor said.
"A civil suit against the alleged attacker is a novel move but not nonsensical, and in some ways I'm not surprised because hotels have had a gutful of glassing attacks and want to send a message to patrons," the lawyer said.
The glass thrower in the Chalk Hotel incident is facing criminal charges.
Amid growing concern over the frequency of glassings, the Queensland Government has issued show-cause notices to a number of pubs and clubs asking them to explain why they should not be forced to replace stubbies, cans and glasses with plastic cups.
A parliamentary inquiry is also examining whether earlier closing hours for pubs and clubs would reduce violence.
The police union has recommended a 2am closing time for nightclubs and midnight for suburban pubs.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Nunzio La Bianca Banned, The Rock Closed

THE WA Liquor Commission has issued the state's first ever prohibition order, banning nightclub operator Nunzio La Bianca from being employeed at a licensed premises for five years.

Additionally the commission has also cancelled the licence for Mr La Bianca's Northbridge nightclub, The Rock, formerly The Bog.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Big Day Out Perth 2009

Gemma Thoms died in hospital last night after passing out during the Big Day Out 2009 music festival yesterday.

Witnesses said Gemma took 3 ecstasy tablets before entering the festival's gates after she spotted police searching people for drugs. Not long after she passed out in the 36 degree heat and was rushed to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, she did not regain concsiousness and was pronounced dead overnight.

Friends of 17-year-old Gemma Thoms, have poured out their grief on social networking site Facebook. The group set up to mourn the young apprentice hairdresser, it is named BDO 09 Tragedy - R.I.P Gemma Thoms