Kings Cross security guard charged after patron knocked unconscious

The alleged assault outside Showgirls comes just weeks after the controversial lockout laws were lifted in Kings Cross.

A security guard at a Kings Cross strip club has been charged with assault after a patron was allegedly knocked unconscious.

Local police were out on patrol when they were flagged down by people concerned for the welfare of the man, 33, who was lying on the footpath outside Showgirls, on Darlinghurst Rd, about 1pm Sunday.

It comes just weeks after the lockout laws were relaxed in the Cross, a year after they were lifted in the Sydney CBD, after the crime rate in the once-notorious red light district plummeted.

Police rendered first aid to the man after being told he had lost consciousness for several minutes when he was allegedly pushed by the security guard, falling backwards and hitting his head on the path.

Strip club Show Girls. Picture: Adam Yip

NSW Ambulance paramedics took him to St Vincent’s Hospital where he was held under observation for nine hours before being discharged.

A 28-year-old man, who police allege was working as a security guard outside the club, was arrested and taken to Kings Cross Police Station.

The man, from Lakemba, has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and police have made an application for his security licence to be suspended or revoked.

Strip club Show Girls. Photographer: Adam Yip

He was granted conditional bail to appear in Central Local Court on May 25.

It was the out-of-control violence in the Cross, together with the one-punch deaths of Thomas Kelly, 18, and Daniel Christie, 18, that triggered the statewide lock-out laws.

While trying to shake off its sleazy image, Kings Cross is still on “probation” as the NSW government said it will monitor the result of lifting the lockout laws for 12 months.