A Queenstown bar has had its on-licence suspended for 48 hours by the Liquor Licensing Authority because it admitted patrons after it was required to close for Easter Sunday.
Liquor licensing Sergeant Keith Newell, of Queenstown, applied to authority panelists Jacqueline Horn and Peter McHaffie for the suspension of the licence held by The Gurnard Ltd for the premises called Bar Up.
Sgt Newell told the hearing that a routine police check on April 12, at 12.27am, found the door to Bar Up open and several people inside, some of whom were consuming alcohol.
Rodney Brenden Wilder, a director and shareholder of the licensee, insisted no-one was drinking and liquor was not being sold.
Police asked Mr Winder to close the premises and departed at 1am.
Sgt Kate Pirovano saw Bar Up's lights were on and the door open at 5.05am.
She entered the bar and saw a man asleep on a couch.
The man told her he had been inside the bar since 1.30am and bought one drink for $7 and had been given another.
Mr Winder emailed Sgt Newell an apology and claimed to have "forgotten" about the early closing.
The panelists said they found it difficult to accept Mr Winder, an experienced operator, would forget the basic constraints of his on-licence.
They described the statute breaches as "serious". The Gurnard Ltd's on-licence was suspended from 7am on October 18 until 7am on October 20.
Other decisions
• A police application for the suspension of Brendan James Cameron's general manager's certificate was declined by the authority due to "unusual circumstances".
Sgt Newell applied for the suspension before Mr Cameron's certificate was renewed on September 29, 2010.
Sgt Newell's grounds were that Mr Cameron, a retail operations manager for Good Group Ltd, was not a suitable person to hold a certificate.
Sgt Newell told the authority panel that police officers found four medium-sized cannabis plants and cannabis utensils when they executed a search warrant at Mr Cameron's home on March 19.
Evidence indicated the items belonged to someone else and Mr Cameron was charged with permitting his premises to be used for offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act, but was granted diversion.
Authority panel members Judith Moorhead and Dr Horn declined the application for suspension.
• The general manager certificate of Gary Livesey was suspended for one week from September 7 for Mr Livesey's involvement in a fight outside Tardis Bar on June 1.
Sgt Newell applied for the certificate suspension because Mr Livesey was charged with disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence.
Mr Livesey was granted diversion as a first-time offender.
The panelists said Mr Livesey's behaviour was out of character and his conduct was "at the lesser end of the scale".
• A general manager's certificate application by Nigel Baxter Alexander was declined due to his drink-driving conviction, work permit status and his experience controlling licensed premises.
Sgt Newell told the authority panel Mr Alexander blew 672mcg per litre of breath on June 26 and was fined $575.
He was also ordered to pay $130 court costs and disqualified from driving for six months.
Sgt Newell said Mr Alexander's work visa was to be cancelled from September 18 because of the conviction on July 13.
Ms Moorhead and Dr Horn said in their decision they saw no reason to depart from liquor abuse guidelines and it was too soon to grant the application due to his inexperience.
• A general manager's certificate application by Brent Martlew Philpott was renewed for a reduced period of 18 months after a conviction over "a minor domestic matter" was brought to the authority's attention.
The panel heard that two years had passed since Mr Philpott had been convicted of assaulting a female in 2007.
He disclosed the conviction on his application, Sgt Newell opposed the application and the matter was set down for the authority.
In their decision, the panelists noted the supporting evidence of both Mr Philpott's partner and his employer, Alistair Brown.
The authority decided Mr Philpott's certificate would now expire on September 25, 2010.
