Sterling Nightclubs Pty Ltd charged with permit a drunken person to remain on premises

The owner of infamous Prahran club Love Machine has been penalised after a patron got drunk on an unknown type of vodka.

Notorious Prahran club Love Machine is back in hot water.

A blotto boozehound loaded up on vodka at notorious nightclub Love Machine was allegedly dragged to a backroom to hide him from police, a court has heard.

Love Machine owner Sterling Nightclubs Pty Ltd was fined $1200 without conviction after fronting Melbourne Magistrates’ Court charged with permitting a drunk person on a licenced premises.

Sterling Nightclubs Pty Ltd was slapped with the charge after an incident which occurred at the Prahran nightclub just before 2am on August 25, 2019.

The court heard Love Machine security escorted a man down the stairs of the venue and into a staff only room.

The man had earlier vomited on the dancefloor and on a private booth, the court was told.

CCTV footage played to the court showed the man held up and dragged down the stairs Weekend at Bernie’s style by two Love Machine security staff.

Police had already been called to the Malvern Rd club to attend an alleged assault.

Body worn camera footage of a man police arrested in connection to their assault investigation was played to the court.

The man told police to “shut the f**k up”, called another man a “dickhead” and told a female officer he had “f**ked her mum” moments before he was bundled into a divvy van.

The two isolated incidents proved central to the dispute argued at the marathon court hearing which has so far been marred with technical issues.

Senior Constable Laura Sensi told the court she and her partner were called to the club to investigate the assault.

Senior Constable Sensi said she and her then partner asked to review CCTV footage of the assault but were instead led by a security guard to the man in the backroom.

“He thought we were here for this drunk,” Senior Constable Sensi said.

Senior Constable Sensi said they saw the man on the ground in the room in the foetal position with vomit on his top and cradling a champagne cooler.

“(He) couldn’t acknowledge our existence,” Senior Constable Sensi said.

“(He was) incoherent, he didn’t know how long he had been there … in my opinion he was drunk, he couldn’t open his eyes, (his) friend informed (there had been) copious drinking (and he) had been vomiting on the dancefloor …

“We were concerned for his welfare.”

Ambulance paramedics assessed the man, who was assisted out of the venue, given a bottle of water and driven home.

Hospitalisation was not required, the court was told.

Police issued a drunk on premises infringement.

“In my opinion there was no level of care provided by them and they were discreetly trying to essentially hide the drunk into the storeroom while police were on the scene,” Senior Constable Sensi told the court.

Senior Constable Leonard Perna told the court the man “showed all the signs of being drunk”. “He was mumbling incoherent, red eyes,” Senior Constable Perna said.

A friend of the man told the court their group arrived at the club sometime between 11.15pm and 11.30pm.

The friend said their group of 11 shared a 1lt bottle of Grey Goose vodka which was served by a Love Machine staff member.

He said his mate consumed about 12 drinks until about 1am.

“He kept asking for more and more until he got drunk and started vomiting everywhere,” the friend said.

“He was drunk and couldn’t see anything in front of him … his head was down, his eyes were closed … security saw him vomiting on the booth …”

The friend said security dragged his friend down the stairs and placed him in the room.

The defence pressed the friend’s recollection of the incident including how much his mate had actually drunk.

A Love Machine security guard told the court he communicated with staff manning the front door via radio to inform them they had “one coming down”.

The court heard this was internal code for someone being escorted from the venue.

The guard said he escorted the man down the stairs then took him to the room because he was informed there was “trouble” out front.

Love Machine venue manager Max Porritt told the court he asked security via radio to place the man in the “first aid room” because of the assault which had occurred earlier.

Mr Porritt, who was punched and sustained an injury while two men who fought at the bar were led out, said he made the decision to have the man placed in the backroom for “safety reasons”.

Mr Porritt said he did not know why the man was being taken from the club but thought it was safer to hold him in the backroom due to the fracas out front.

Mr Porritt also clarified Love Machine did not offer Grey Goose vodka in its “booth packages” but it was possibly Belvedere Vodka the group had consumed.

Sterling Nightclubs Pty Ltd director Dhir Kakar told the court all his staff had RSA accreditations.

Magistrate Michael Smith said the infringement occurred through “bad luck rather than bad management”.

“Once they (security) got hold of him their behaviour was fine, commendable, they had his best interests in mind …,” Magistrate Smith said.

“You run a busy place these things happen from time to time … sometimes some things slip through the cracks.”

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