A Sydney restaurant has been fined and given its “first strike” after it dumped two unconscious patrons on the street after serving them 16 shots of spirits within 40 minutes.
On 9 November 2017, three women entered Gangnam Station Korean restaurant and ordered shots of soju. Each patron drank eight shots in the space of 40 minutes before two fell unconscious and collapsed.
Restaurant staff and other patrons carried the two women out and dumped them on the footpath. Nearby police intervened after noticing a crowd gathered around the women and called an ambulance.
As a result of the incident, NSW Police fined the restaurant $2200 for permitting intoxication and the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority imposed a “first strike” on the restaurant’s licensee, Sunhwa Kim, under the NSW Government’s Three Strikes disciplinary scheme.
Venues with three strikes can have their licences suspended or be permanently banned from the industry.
The Authority is also proposing to reduce Gangnam Station’s closing time from 2am to midnight and require it to have a security guard trained in the responsible service of alcohol on the premises from 8pm each night.
Director of compliance operations Sean Goodchild says the venue showed a blatant disregard for the health and safety of the patrons and responsible service of alcohol requirements.
“It’s hard to imagine a worse case of a venue failing in its obligations to prevent misuse and abuse of alcohol,” he says.
Image credit: Junkee
