Bar Wunder owners Mark Kennth McElligott, Fiona Leigh Usher have Covid non-compliance charges adjourned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court

The owners of a shuttered Toowoomba venue that allegedly failed to comply with Covid-19 public health requirements have had their matter mentioned in court.

An appeal against the legality of Covid-19 vaccination requirements could have an impact on the owners of a Toowoomba venue charged with failing to comply with public health directions.

Mark Kenneth McElligott, 56, and Fiona Leigh Usher, 50, have both been charged with failing to comply with a Covid-19 direction.

The charges stem from December 2021 and January 2022, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the pair accused of operating their venue Bar Wunder without complying with state government public health orders.

Bar Wunder owners Fiona Davis and Mark McElligot.

Neither McElligott or Usher were present in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday when their case was briefly mentioned by their solicitor Melisa Bansraj.

The court was told there were another case being heard by the Queensland Court of Appeal, challenging the legal validity of the state government enforcing Covid vaccination requirements for certain professions.

In submitting for another lengthy adjournment, Ms Bansraj said the outcome of the appeal could have a bearing on Mr McElligott and Ms Usher’s matters.

Magistrate Louise Shephard adjourned the matter to November 1 in the magistrate’s court.

Late last year, after repeated public statements against the mandate, Bar Wunder was slapped with a $6892 fine for allegedly failing to comply with the public health directive on the first weekend they came into effect.

The bar became a lightning rod for opponents to the Covid-19 vaccine and associated public health orders, with the bar a site of a number of protests on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

Frequently posting debunked Covid-19 vaccination claims on social media, Bar Wunder was shuttered in April 2022.

The pair has not entered a plea to their charges.

Originally published as Bar Wunder owners Mark Kennth McElligott, Fiona Leigh Usher have Covid non-compliance charges adjourned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court