Lifetime ban for ex-golf club boss who doctored CCTV to help mate

A golf club boss who tampered with CCTV to protect a drunk mate from police prosecution has been banned from running pubs and clubs for life.

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The golf club boss who tampered with CCTV to protect a drunk mate from the police has been banned from running pubs and clubs for life.

In 2011 Shelly Beach Golf Club general manager Craig Ellis gave police an edited version of CCTV footage that showed real estate agent Bernard Nash drinking only three beers.

The unedited footage revealed Nash had actually sunk seven schooners before he was picked up for drink-driving.

The tampered evidence helped Nash get off a conviction in Wyong Local Court and then successfully sue the police for $125,000 for false imprisonment and mal­icious prosecution.

Now the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has given Ellis a lifetime ban on running pubs and clubs, and hit him with an $11,000 fine.

Former general manager Craig Ellis at Shelly Beach Golf Club.

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In an ILGA decision handed down November 21, chairman ­Philip Crawford said Ellis failed to correct his string of lies.

“Disqualifying Mr Ellis from acting as a secretary or director of this club and any registered club in NSW will not only protect the community … but send a clear message to others in the industry as to the consequences of engaging in misleading conduct when producing evidence that may be held by a registered club in response to a compulsory legal process,” Mr Crawford said. “The authority finds Mr Ellis’ conduct to be of the most serious nature and warrants the imposition of the maximum monetary penalty available.”

Ellis, 47, has served 10 months of a 22-month prison sentence after being convicted of two counts of tampering with evidence with intent to mislead a judicial ­tribunal. During his 2017 trial he claimed he was protecting the club’s reputation.

The club did not ­respond to requests for comment.