Trevor Andrews: Echuca pub owner facing jail after flouting lockdown

Victoria’s top cop says a small country pub owner could be jailed after he racked up more than $20,000 in fines for staying open and defying lockdown.

Publican Trevor Andrews at the Patoral Hotel in Echuca is opening today defying lockdown restrictions Picture: Bec Pilgrim.

Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said it was “absolutely within the power” of police to jail a small country pub owner for staying open and defying lockdown.

The Pastoral Hotel in Echuca openly flouted the state government’s fifth lockdown when it reopened on the Victorian-NSW border this week.

Owner Trevor Andrews claimed it was within his “constitutional right” to do so but has since racked up more than $20,000 in fines and been charged and bailed over the “blatant restriction breaches”.

Mr Patton said he has been told not to breach the chief health officer directions again.

“We’re taking it very seriously because he has just been a deliberate, blatant breach of the CHO’s directions,” he said.

“He’s already got two lots of fines totalling nearly $22,000 for himself. He’s still got other charges now pending before the court for that third breach where as refused, like common sense has prevailed.”

Mr Patton said punters at the pub were also disciplined, dishing more than $100,000 in fines to those who attended the venue across the three days it was open.

“I’ve imposed the conditions that if he reopens again, my officers will arrest him and he will be taken before the court,” he said.

“And we would probably be asking for him to be remanded because he’s already been given conditions.

“It’s over three occasions. I mean, it’s just, it’s nonsense.”

Publican Trevor Andrews openly defied lockdown when he opened his doors this week. Picture: Bec Pilgrim.

When he spoke to The Goulburn Valley News on Tuesday, Mr Andrews said police would not stop him from opening his doors.

“We can’t keep going like this, they’ve tried to lock us down five times and it has got beyond ridiculous,” he said.

“When we were offering takeaway people would be standing in here waiting for their food so I thought I may as well put my whole dine-in menu on offer.

“Retail stores including the supermarkets are allowed to be open and they would have more people through them in an hour than some local businesses would in a day or even a week.

“I want every pub or hotel in Victoria to open their doors because how we’re being treated isn’t right.”

Mr Patton said the breaches were “quite concerning”.

“We went and we warned him,” he said.

“We took some details and he’s open the next day, like he’s serving, as I understand it, oysters and steak and chips and the like.

“On three different days he had a number of different people in there totalling 54 people all up over three days, claiming to have imprimatur through or permission through Commonwealth law, which is just not the case.”

Mr Andrews will appear in Echuca Magistrates’ Court on December 14.