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ASHBURTON
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Ashburton bars like the Speight’s Ale House – managed by Mark Milmine – are not responsible for trouble in Ashburton after hours, according to bar owners. PHOTO DONNA WYLIE 040215-DW-381
Don’t blame us, say pubs BY ERIN TASKER
ERIN.T@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Ashburton bar owners say the finger of blame should not be pointed at them after incidents like the brawl which attracted close to 150 people in the early hours of Sunday. The alcohol-fuelled brawl on East Street resulted in a number of people suffering injuries, including a police officer who required stitches to his face. Six people were arrested on the night and a further four have been arrested since. Alcohol was believed to have
been a factor, but bar owners say that doesn’t mean they supplied that alcohol. Ashburton Trust chief executive Giles Beal said Ashburton’s late night problems lay with people buying cheap booze, drinking it at home and then heading to town where they were refused entry to bars due to their intoxication levels. “They then wander around with nothing to do,” Mr Beal said. He said licensees did a good job of monitoring intoxication levels and not allowing intoxi-
cated people through the doors in the first place. They also provided courtesy vans to get people home, but unfortunately when people were on the street, they were on their own. The Print Room owner Emma Jackson agreed. “We care about our patrons and at the end of the night we put security out and make sure people move away safely from our premises. “It’s not like we just put people out the door and say ‘see you later’.
“When people leave to make their way home we do try to make them as safe as possible, but we don’t have any control over what happens after that.” Arcadia owner Paul Millichamp said although Sunday morning’s brawl happened close to his premises, his bar was not to blame. Those involved had not been drinking at his premises that night, he said. But even if they had, once patrons left a bar, they were on their own. “Unfortunately you can’t hold their hand and walk them home
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and make sure they behave,” he said. “People have got to take responsibility for their own actions.” The first he knew of the brawl was seeing police cars and an ambulance on the street. “Unfortunately it happened close to our bar which really pisses me off, because people associate my bar with it,” he said.
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