Johnn Johnn’s closes amid escalating fear of NT crime

A Top End ice cream shop is closing its doors as staff no longer feel safe going to work. Read why its owner feels like ‘a prisoner of your own city’.

Popular ice cream shop Johnn Johnn’s is closing its doors until May 1. Picture Glenn Campbell

A beloved gelateria in Darwin’s CBD has closed its doors to preserve staff safety amid a “heightened state of fear” in the wake of the alleged murder of Declan Laverty last month.

But the closure is only temporary, with Johnn Johnn’s set to resume scooping icy goodness into cones and cups on May 1 after staff receive extra safety training.

Owner Johnn Koenig said he held a team meeting shortly after the bottleshop worker’s alleged murder, resulting in the shop’s scoopers – the youngest just 13 – now being trained to de-escalate anti-social behaviour.

“Thankfully there’s no alcohol here, so we don’t have that sort of risk,” he said.

“Every day, there’s usually abuse towards me or my staff,” he said.

“We’re constantly asking people to move on.”

Mr Koenig said the Darwin community was what made the city so great, but the “heightened state of fear” was dampening spirits.

“At the moment, they don’t feel safe,” he said.

“It’s not a great feeling when you feel like a prisoner of your own city.”

Mr Koenig said the shop’s temporary closure would be a “massive financial hit”, but staff safety was paramount.

He said the shop couldn’t afford security personnel, and Johnn Johnn’s was likely “the only place in the world where an ice cream shop needs a security guard”.

Mr Koenig said the shop already had CCTV cameras and some fencing.

“All we can do is control what we can control,” he said.

“The rest is up to the government.”

The closure comes two weeks after the latest anti-crime rally, during which fed-up Territorians again called on the NT government to make the community safe.

Originally published as Johnn Johnn’s closes amid escalating fear of NT crime