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A Rotorua bar has lost its alcohol licence after police presented licencing authorities with CCTV footage of mass brawls and a fatal collision while a witness complained of trash left by bar patrons.
Rotorua Sports Bar, located on Arawa St, operated by Golden Empire Holdings Limited, first applied for a renewal of its alcohol licence in March 2022.
The application was opposed by police and the licensing inspector and objected to by a member of the public, which led to a two-day hearing before the Rotorua District Licensing Committee in November and December 2022.
After the 2022 hearing, the committee refused to grant the bar an alcohol licence “with immediate effect”.
The business appealed the decision on the grounds that the committee had “breached the principles of natural justice”. An appeal hearing before the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority took place in Rotorua in July.
A copy of the authority’s decision, pronounced by chairperson District Court Judge Philip Connell, was released on December 22.
In the decision, Connell recorded the testimonies of witnesses from the 2022 committee hearing.
One Rotorua resident who opposed the bar’s application gave evidence at the hearing that he had raised concerns with the local committee over the past 15 years.
He said the bar had a “significant and “detrimental” effect on the good order of the community.
Rotorua Sports Bar has lost its alcohol licence after its renewal was opposed by police. Photo / Andrew Warner
The resident showed the committee photos of the “vomit, bottles, cans, broken glass and other detritus” littered on his business’ driveway.
He said he was frustrated at having to clean up the mess and having to use a water blaster to remove remnants of vomit.
In their opposition to the renewal of the bar’s alcohol licence, police said they had been called to the premises for incidents including rioting, assault, disorderly behaviour, fighting and theft.
Police showed the committee “approximately 30 minutes” of CCTV footage that clearly showed the bar’s operator “lost control of the premises”.
“[There were] instances where the door was locked from the inside of the premises as a protection from disturbances occurring at the front entrance,” the authority’s decision said.
Police witnesses said that incidents had “escalated and increased in frequency” from October 2021.
A police sergeant gave evidence that he was called to a “large-scale” disorder incident outside the bar where 20 people were “physically fighting and bleeding” but “no security was seen at any time”.
Eventually, a police prison truck needed to be deployed to the scene.
One police constable gave evidence that in September 2022 a “large disorder” outside the bar led to “numerous arrests” and in November of the same year, a brawl involving 15 to 20 Black Power members took place outside the bar while the bar manager locked the business’s doors from the inside.
“Security had no control over the premises.”
When asked by the committee how often he had attended incidents at the Arawa St premises, the constable said: “Every Saturday night for the last six months.”
The bar's alcohol licence renewal application was first declined by the Rotorua District Licensing Committee one year ago. Photo / Laura Smith
The authority’s decision at the appeal hearing noted bar manager Akashdeep Singh appealed the committee’s decision on the grounds that the committee had “breached the principles of natural justice”.
Singh alleged the committee had not given him time to respond to the evidence given the passing of time since the incidents and changes in the bar’s staff.
Singh also alleged the committee had admitted evidence at the hearing without letting him know and “ambushed” his witnesses.
According to the authority’s decision, Singh offered a reduction in operating hours with an earlier closing time of 2am but stated that Singh did not think that a reduction in trading hours would make a difference. He thought that a change in operating hours would “just move the problem”.
The authority also found that Singh had taken steps to reduce harm by upping the numbers of security personnel working on Friday and Saturday nights.
In total, the authority listed at least six incidents where fights involving large groups of people were captured on CCTV footage. In one clip from September 18, 2022 footage recorded a fatal car versus person collision.
In the authority’s conclusions, Judge Connell recorded that refusing Rotorua Sports Bar’s alcohol licence would increase the “amenity and good order” of the local community.
“We refuse to renew the on-licence and it is to remain expired.”
The authority’s decision took effect immediately from December 22.
