Lion Nathan yesterday disputed that "unlimited free alcohol" was made available to a man who allegedly assaulted his pregnant wife while in Queenstown at a Steinlager-sponsored meet-the-All Blacks event.
Daniel Tate Russell (27), of Auckland, is facing two charges stemming from an incident early yesterday, during which he allegedly threw a 20-inch Philips television set at his pregnant partner.
Senior Constable Chris Blackford, who claimed the couple had "access to unlimited free alcohol", described the incident to justice of the peace Daphne Stewart, of Wanaka, as "probably one of the worst cases that I've had to deal with of assault of a woman" in his strong opposition to bail.
The couple won a competition through Steinlager, owned by Lion Nathan, to travel to Queenstown, stay at the Heritage, have dinner and drinks with members of the All Blacks on Wednesday night and play golf with them at Jacks Point yesterday, before returning home.
At the bail hearing in Queenstown yesterday, Russell was remanded in custody to appear in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday.
Lion Nathan corporate affairs director Liz Read said the company was "extremely disappointed" the incident had occurred at Steinlager's annual All Blacks Golf Day.
Russell was a consumer who won a competition to attend the event, she said. The other 60 invited guests were customers and sold Lion Nathan products.
Ms Read confirmed Russell's partner, who is four to five months' pregnant with their second child, had been drinking. No-one at the event knew she was pregnant.
Following informal drinks, from about 3pm, the group, which included about 20 past and present All Blacks, was taken by bus to a restaurant for dinner.
Guests who wanted to return to their accommodation were transported by bus at 10.30pm, which ended the official function, she said.
"The event was held in a licensed premises. The Sale of Liquor Act requires host responsibility, which includes not serving alcohol to intoxicated customers," Ms Read said.
"The alcohol that was available ... does not mean we were providing unlimited alcohol to customers."
"We can put all the steps in place on earth to provide a social, safely run event and unfortunately this event has been clouded by the behaviour of these people . . ."
Ms Read said the woman, who was hospitalised, had been booked on a return flight to Auckland yesterday afternoon, but was not discharged until after her flight left the resort.
Lion Nathan had rebooked her on a flight today.
New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the group of All Blacks was at the sponsored event but none of them was involved in what appeared to be a domestic-related incident.
It would be inappropriate to comment further because the matter was before the courts, he said.
