‘High risk’ bar f ights for renewal of licence
A woman being dragged five metres by her hair. Glass being thrown at police officers. Violent assaults. A man touching patrons with his bare genitals.
These are just a handful of more than 100 incidents alleged by police to have taken place at The Establishment, a self-proclaimed ‘‘student bar’’ on the corner of Courtenay Place and Blair St, over the past 41⁄2 years.
The central Wellington bar is now fighting to renew its licence, amid objections from police, regional public health, Wellington City Council’s licensing inspector and a lawyer representing nearby businesses and residents.
It is the second bar deemed ‘‘high risk’’ to go before the council’s district licensing committee recently, with The George on Willis St having its hours slashed earlier this month. These cases come amid wider concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour in the central city.
Andrew Gibson, director of the Courtenay Establishment Ltd, appeared before the licensing committee this week during a two-day hearing to try to keep his licence.
Before the hearing, 800 pages of evidence had been submitted to the committee.
Authorities objected to the renewal on a number of grounds, including the
level of alcohol-related harm, inadequate training and systems of staff, suitability of the applicant, as well as the price of drink specials and their promotion, particularly to a younger student audience.
Gibson said his bar, which holds about 450 people, was well run and that 27 staff could lose their jobs if the licence wasn’t renewed.
But police submitted a list of 104 reported incidents they said had occurred since the bar’s licence was last renewed in August 2016.
These included multiple accounts of patrons being so intoxicated they couldn’t stand up, sexual assault, fighting
and glass bottles being thrown at police, staff and the public. Gibson confirmed one security guard had been let go after assaulting a patron.
Reports of assaults included a man dragging a woman by her hair inside the bar for five metres, female patrons and staff being punched in the face, a person’s nose being broken and a man being smacked to the ground, breaking his jaw and requiring surgery.
One incident inside the bar saw a woman punched in the head 10 to 15 times and chunks of her hair pulled out. ‘‘The assault went on for quite a while before she was pulled off by security staff. Police arrested a woman for a