Shepparton’s Victoria Hotel guilty of serving alcohol to under-18s
A Shepparton pub served alcohol to minors after accepting an invalid form of ID and allowed other underage teens into gaming areas.
Goulburn Valley
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A popular Shepparton pub breached liquor licensing and responsible gambling laws when teenagers younger than 18 were found to be drinking alcohol and in gaming areas.
The Victoria Hotel, operated by Black Rhino Group which runs a number of pubs across Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, faced the Shepparton Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to plead guilty to three charges for breaching liquor licensing and gaming law.
After a brawl at the venue on April 12 last year police were conducting foot patrols in and around the pub.
At 2.20am they observed two people in the gaming lounge and confirmed their birth dates were 2008 and 2006.
The Victoria Hotel was issued a penalty notice four days later for underage persons being in a gaming area.
On December 21 police again attended the hotel and were conducting a walk-through at 2am when they noticed someone knock a Jack Daniel stubbie over.
They went to speak to the person seated where it happened and confirmed the person was born in 2007.
The person was directed to leave the venue and police reviewed CCTV footage.
It showed the 17-year-old entered the premises shortly after 1am and presented a photograph on their phone of a Victorian licence.
A photo is not considered a valid form of ID, however the teenager was then able to purchase a glass and a stubbie of alcohol.
The court heard the staff member who accepted the ID had undergone retraining and faced disciplinary action.
The court also heard the venue had installed facial recognition technology at a cost of more than $11,000 that is able to provide an estimate of how old a patron is.
The company has 43 venues across the country and no history of breaching these laws.
The Black Rhino Group pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined $7500 without conviction.
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