Police apologise to staff

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart has admitted his own officers may have broken the law and offered an apology to the Brisbane nightclub staff over how the police acted in the Prince Frederik ID scandal.

POLICE Commissioner Ian Stewart has admitted his own officers may have broken the law and he offered an apology to the Jade Buddha staff over how police acted in the Crown Prince Frederik ID scandal.

Mr Stewart said the police and the Prince had likely engaged in a “technical breach” of the legislation, but the Jade Buddha bar’s owners were unlikely to be prosecuted because they acted “in good faith” under instruction from Queensland Police.

“I backed them 100 per cent for what they did last Friday night in looking after the Prince the way they did,” Mr Stewart said.

“I apologise unreservedly to anyone who was at the Jade Buddha if the Prince’s presence there caused any concern.

“Or if the way our officers acted created a perception of intimidation or what have you.”

Jade Buddha bar co-owner Phil Hogan accepted the Commissioner’s apology but questioned future handlings of any ID scanning incidents.

“We’re not going to get too hung up about it and we appreciate Queensland Police had to do their job,” he said.

“We’re happy with what (Commissioner Stewart) said.

“It’s a bit ironic though that (Queensland) licensees on Monday were told it was handled exemplarily and if it happened again there isn’t much else different for us to do.

“So if Prince Harry turns up to check on the Commonwealth Games preparations, he’ll need to remember to bring his ID.”

The Prince Frederik incident raised global criticism about the state’s ID scanning laws which have seen pub and club operators refuse entry to more than 60 patrons a week, most of whom are tourists from out of state or overseas.

Mr Hogan said he was provided advice from Liquor Licensing that instructed bars and clubs to “do nothing different” if faced with another high profile ID scanning incident.