Coast publican takes king hit

WESTPORT: A Westport publican was knocked out, his nephew sustained a broken jaw and a friend was badly bruised after the publican ejected a patron from Westport’s Criterion Hotel early on Sunday.

‘‘There was a bit of a scuffle inside and I put one patron on the street,’’ publican Glen Elley said yesterday.

‘‘There was another one standing out there which I won’t have in my property.

‘‘This other one I put out said ‘Oh well, I’m going back in’.

‘‘I said ‘No you’re not, you’ve just been in an altercation. You’re not coming back in’.

‘‘Then he spat the dummy and that’s the last I can remember.’’

Mr Elley has no idea who kinghit him. He was told later that several men in their 20s kicked him as he lay unconscious on the footpath.

His bar manager called for help. His nephew, Reuben Elley, and a friend, Javorn Walter, both aged in their early 20s, responded.

When Mr Elley came to 10 minutes later, Reuben Elley was nursing a broken jaw and Mr Walter was badly bruised around his head.

The alleged assailants left the scene but Glen Elley believes he knows who they are.

He hopes CCTV footage and witnesses will confirm their identities.

He was taken to Buller Hospital where he spent several hours under observation.

‘‘I’ve only got a big lump on the back of my head and a badlooking eye, and sore bones.’’

Reuben Elley was sent to Christchurch Public Hospital.

‘‘He went into surgery this morning, poor little fella. He’ll be 12 weeks sucking through a straw.’’

Glen Elley said about 60 people were having a good time in his bar when the fight started about 2am.

About 20 minutes earlier he had stopped an altercation outside Work and Income, a few metres from his hotel in Westport’s main street.

He said one person, who he believed was a woman, was on the ground when he intervened. ‘‘I had to stand over a person while these other people . . . I don’t know what they were trying to do, but what I saw I didn’t like.

‘‘I went and stood over this person and told everyone else to get away.’’

He believes some of those involved were among the subsequent troublemakers.

He said they were with a group of patrons who had been shuttling between the Criterion and the nearby Black and White Hotel all night.

It was the first time in about 30 years as a publican that he had been knocked out.

‘‘I’ve never had anything broken but I’ve been belted a few times over the years.’’

He did not close the Criterion immediately afterwards because so many people pouring on to the street at once could have caused chaos, he said.

Police area response manager Sergeant Brent Cook said police were establishing exactly what happened and CCTV footage was being reviewed.

‘‘At this stage no charges have been laid.’’