The NSW Riverina pub shuts down after serving 20 schooners and four rum and cokes to a teenage boy who died in a car accident.
The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority announced that the Temora Hotel would be forced to shut down on Christmas Eve for 14 days after the 17-year-old died in the pub in March.
ILGA Philip Crawford says the incident is as horrible as it is gets.
“The matter is subject to a police investigation and a coronial inquest, with the authority’s decision to suspend the hotel’s licence triggered by the sale of alcohol to a minor and the licensee’s complete failure to manage the risk of harm,” Mr Crawford said on Wednesday
The teen was not asked for an ID despite spending about seven hours drinking in the pub and communicating with or serving any member of staff on duty, including offering free drinks to the bar manager, he said.
After leaving the bar, CCTV footage shows him entering the car with another man, and the witnesses confirm that he went to the party.
He was not given alcohol at the party, but he was still heavily intoxicated, and he later found high levels of ecstasy in his bloodstream, ILGA said.
He had been driving around Temora for a few hours and killed in a single vehicle crash on the outskirts of the nearby area, with the police finding intoxication, speed and driver error leading to the accident.
“There’s no going back from such a tragedy caused by the systemic failings that put this young person in harm’s way,” Mr Crawford said.
“The messages are clear: check the ages of patrons, repeat if necessary, exclude minors from licensed areas, and do not sell alcohol to people showing signs of intoxication no matter how old they are.”