BSV regularly acts for licensees that have been approached by the NSW Police or inspectors from the Compliance Branch of LGNSW regarding an investigation or incident at their licensed premises, or after they have been issued with a Penalty Notice or Infringement Notice and elected to appear before a NSW local court to defend it.
Recently we acted for a large and well known hotel in Darling Harbour who had elected to defend a Penalty Notice before the Downing Centre local court. In that matter our team demonstrated, through additional submissions [that were accompanied by statements from the licensee, their security company, and supported by CCTV footage], that the allegation of selling liquor to a minor was not established. Our submission issued to the NSW Police, setting out the defence to the allegation and relied on the most recent case law on the topic. The Police accepted that the Court Attendance Notice issued to our client was based on a flawed interpretation of the legal position that applied to their specific circumstances. Consequently, they agreed and withdrew the Court proceedings and Penalty Notice. Importantly there was no repercussions to either the licensee or the hotel owners from the alleged incident.
In the above example, we were very happy to have saved the licensee and the owners of the hotel the cost of running an expensive hearing before the Court. This also meant the licensee was removed from the demerits register and no demerit points were allocated [which had previously and incorrectly been occurred when the Infringement Notice issued].
If you have been approached by the NSW Police or the LGNSW inspectors regarding an investigation, or an allegation of breaching the NSW Liquor Act 2007 or gaming legislation, then we strongly recommend you contact Tony Schwartz at BSV on (02) 8383 3777 to discuss your matter and ways we can assist.