Leichhardt Skull and Rose Cafe shut by police; owner denies wrongdoing

An inner west cafe owner says he’s done nothing wrong after the NSW Police Commissioner shut down his business for multiple Covid breaches.

Police have shut down an inner west cafe for what they say are multiple breaches of the public health order – but the owner says he’s done nothing wrong.

On Saturday morning, police told the Skull and Rose Cafe in Leichhardt they must close for two weeks due to repeated breaches of the public health order.

Abraham Nasr, owner of The Skull and Rose Cafe, which was shut down by police. Picture: Julien Andrews/NCA NewsWire

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said officers had responded to multiple complaints from the public about the business.

“I closed the first business this morning, a cafeteria in Leichhardt for 14 days for continual breaches of the health order and I won’t apologise that more businesses will be closed over the next 21 days,” Mr Fuller said.

Police say they visited the Skull and Rose Cafe on Norton St ten times in the past two weeks and fined owner Abraham Nasr five times.

Mr Nasr has been arrested and charged twice for breaching the public health order.

Commissioner Fuller said Mr Nasr’s cafe will remain closed until he can prove he has taken steps to improve compliance.

“(Police will allege) this cafe owner, a 44-year-old man, has shown a blatant disregard for the health and safety of his community for an extended period of time, and his business will now stay closed until I’m satisfied there is no further risk to public health,” he said.

Police say they have received multiple complaints from the public. Picture: Julien Andrews/NCA NewsWire

Mr Nasr claims he has never broken the rules and said he denies ever taking his mask off inside his business.

“I’ve been following Covid safety plans since last year,” Mr Nasr said.

“We will see what the justice system does.

“Why would I want to run my business without following the rules, that’s not attracting customers.”

Mr Nasr said on Thursday he was “thrown in jail, handcuffed and stripped” for not wearing a mask.

While Mr Nasr denies ever breaking the rules, locals said they weren’t surprised to see the cafe close.