Temora Hotel forced to temporarily close over Christmas period

There will be no Christmas drinks at the Temora Hotel as the owners have been forced to close the venue for two weeks after a teenager died.

The Hotel has been forced to close for two weeks. Picture Morgan Dyer.

The Temora Hotel will be forced to shut for two weeks after a 17-year-old male who police allege was served 20 schooners and four rum and cokes died in a car crash in the hours after his visited the venue in March.

The Hotel will remain closed for 14 days from December 24 to January 7.

A spokesman for the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority said it was decided to suspend the hotel’s liquor license because of the charges laid against thelicensee relating to alleged failures to reduce harm to patrons.

Chairman Philip Crawford said the incident was about as horrific as it 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 (alleged) sale of alcohol to a minor …,” Mr Crawford said.

Police will allege the minor was not asked for ID and spent around seven hours drinking at the pub and engaging with or being served by staff.

The Temora Hotel was charged with a number of offences last month. Picture: Morgan Dyer.

Upon leaving the premises, CCTV footage allegedly shows the boy getting into a car with another male, with witnesses allegedly confirming he attended a house party briefly after this.

Police will allege the young man was not provided with alcohol at the party, but was already heavily intoxicated and high levels of ecstasy were later found in his bloodstream.

Police will also allege the young man then drove around Temora for a couple of hours until he was killed in a single-vehicle crash on the outskirts of nearby town, Sebastopol.

Police found intoxication, speed and driver error were contributing factors in causing the crash.

“There’s no going back from such a tragedy …” Mr Crawford said.

He said all hotels should abide by certain rules.

Last month, police charged the hotel, the licensee and the young man’s friend with a number of offences related to the death of the boy.

The licensed premises was charged with 11 counts of sell liquor to a minor on licensed premises, two counts of person related to licensed premises supply liquor, licensee sell/supply liquor to intoxicated person, and two counts of licensee fail to comply with conditions of licence.

The Temora Hotel was charged last month. Picture Morgan Dyer.

A 29-year-old woman, the pub’s licensee, was charged with three counts of sell liquor to a minor on licensed premises, two counts of person related to licensed premises supply liquor, and licensee sell/supply liquor to intoxicated person.

A 24-year-old man, a patron of the Temora Hotel and friend of the man, was charged with three counts of person unrelated to licensed premises supply liquor to minor.

Riverina Police Superintendent Bob Noble said the people charged will face court early next year.

“What we have here tragically of course comes down to the death of another country person on a country road, a person visiting this area and a person police allege was an underage person who was served a large amount of alcohol in a hotel when that person should not have been served alcohol,” Supt Noble said.

“There are a number of factors that led to the death of the young person, no one is pointing a finger at any one person but there were a number of entities who (we allege) had a part to play in terms of this tragic outcome,” he said.