Hotel Steyne, in Manly, will shut down for a week in retribution for selling alcohol to underage girls.
Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) has suspended the pub’s liquor licence for seven days from 4 July after the four girls were caught drinking there by police patrolling the venue about 11.30pm on 12 September, 2015, reported the Daily Telegraph.
In February, licensee Stephen O’Sullivan was found guilty of four counts of allowing underage girls to remain in the hotel for more than three hours, but the venue was not given a “strike” under L&GNSW’s Three Strikes scheme.
However, two bar staff were fined $1100 each under the Minors Sanctions Scheme. The upcoming closure was ordered when one of the women failed to pay the fine.
Arthur Laundy, co-owner of Hotel Steyne, told the Daily Telegraph the closure would cost him more than $100,000 in lost revenue and his casual staff would be out of work for a week.
“I’m flabbergasted by this,” he said.
“I think the whole system has gone haywire. There is a vendetta there somewhere.
“These girls who got into the venue beat the system, and I put my hand up … but this is just ridiculous.”
Since its December 2014 introduction, 10 venues, including Hotel Steyne, have been listed on the Minors Sanctions Scheme register.