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Tag: alcohol related crime

  • Responsible Service of Alcohol Update: Licensees Defend their Venues

    Although licenced venues often get a bad rap, as licensees insist licenced venues are not to blame for the alcohol fuelled violence filling the streets each weekend night. Brawls, attacks and assaults seem to inundate the news these days. Now a Launceston hotel owner says that licenced premises are actually amongst the safest places to visit.

    A member of the Tasmanian Hospitality Association, the licensee says that inside licensed venues are some of the safest places to enjoy alcohol, the problems occur on the streets and if these problems are alcohol-fuelled then the alcohol causing them is not being obtained at licenced premises.

    Usually the worst violent incidents occur many blocks away from licenced venues, so the blame that some people are placing on licensed venues is unwarranted, according to licensees.

    Read what one licensee had to say in defence of licenced venues recently, according to this post from www.examiner.com.au :

    Star Bar licensee Mick Acquarola, a Tasmanian Hospitality Association board member and past Launceston Liquor Accord vice chairman, said there had been no incidents at his business for “quite some time”.

    He said it was a misconception that licensed venues encouraged alcohol-related crime.

    “Incidents are happening, either at homes or away from venues,” Mr Acquarola said.

    “We have security and responsible service of alcohol procedures that we adhere to.

    “We keep our patrons safe.

    “It’s tough enough to get people out in winter time. We want to keep things positive.”

    Mr Acquarola said there was an assumption from media reports that people involved in bashings had been out drinking.

    “Incidents getting reported in the past few weeks have not been directly involved with a venue or outside the door of a venue,” he said.

    “They happen in the street, two to three blocks away, or in a suburb.”

    Source: http://www.examiner.com.au/story/1569301/alcohol-related-crime-not-fuelled-by-licensed-venues/

    The truth is that every Monday in the news we hear about the chaos that seems to erupt each weekend in entertainment districts around the country. It is true that licenced venues are some of the safest places to drink and stay safe and if we are to keep it that way it is important that licensees and their staff remember the importance of enforcing responsible service of alcohol.

    Firstly owners of licenced venues need to ensure that everyone they hire is either in possession of their RSA certificate or are in the process of obtaining it. This certificate or a copy needs to be kept on the licenced premises in case authorities call on it.

    Secondly licensees need to ensure that their employees aren’t just in possession of the RSA certificate but that they are enforcing the principles it teaches, in order to avoid alcohol fuelled misconduct and harm occurring within their venue.

    Servers of alcohol who perform their duties according to RSA regulations provide a duty of care to customers that in turn promotes job satisfaction. Workers who are serving customers responsibly are performing their duty, keeping themselves, their co-workers and their customers happy and safe.

     

  • Brutal Glassing Incident Culprit Escapes Prison

    An alcohol related crime committed in 1988 has once again come under the spotlight as the person convicted for the murder has again escaped prison after gaining parole for the incident in 1988 and now escaping jail time for the recent fight.  The man was involved in an assault while on parole for the first incident but this time received a suspended sentence.

    The convicted murderer was sentenced to 21 years in prison after smashing in the head of another patron at a nightclub in 1988 and killing him. Once released on parole in 2010, the man was involved in yet another incident in a bar in Melbourne where he glassed a security guard. Surprisingly the man has managed to escape prison because security cameras showed that he was initially the victim and the glassing was just a case of mistaken identity. The man thought he was glassing his attackers when in fact he was glassing the security guards who were trying to help him.

    TheShout.com.au reported on the incident, see below what the article had to say:

    Jeffrey Alan Thomas served 21 years in prison for the 1988 murder of a fellow nightclub patron, who he killed by repeatedly dropping a large rock on his head at the climax of a scuffle that occurred upon leaving the venue.

    Thomas was on parole in November 2010 when he became involved in a fight while drinking at the Cubby House Lounge Bar in Moonee Ponds in Melbourne’s north west. Security camera footage showed that Thomas was initially the victim in the incident. Following a verbal altercation, he was set upon by a group of up to eight men who punched and kicked him while he was on the ground.

    When security intervened to protect him, Thomas, who has poor eyesight and had lost his glasses in the melee, attacked one of the security guards, first punching him in the head before repeatedly striking him in the head with a glass he had subsequently picked up off the bar.

    As a result of the assault the security guard sustained several deep lacerations to his head. He received stitches and was discharged from hospital later that evening.

    The County Court of Victoria sentenced Thomas on March 26 this year. Judge Marilyn Harbison had heard evidence that Thomas had made strong progress in his rehabilitation in his latter years in prison and upon re-entering the community.

    Read more http://www.theshout.com.au/2013/04/22/article/Glassing-offender-avoids-prison-sentence/PMGJKKXMRE.html

    The judge in this case expressed her concern over the recent increase in violent incidents especially glassings occurring on licenced premises.

    According to the prosecutor, Thomas is a threat to the safety of the community however the judge pointed out that his previous offence of murder occurred under similar circumstances and that the man and the others involved had been drinking and so the incident was fuelled by alcohol. She then ruled that the three-year prison sentence she imposed on Thomas should be fully suspended.Thomas was warned that if he committed any crimes like this again he would definitely be sent back to prison.