Wisemans Ferry Bowling club fined over patron’s fatal car crash
Shane Townsend would often drop into his local pub a couple of times a week. But a staff member’s decision to give him a beer “as an incentive” to leave one night not only cost him his life, but landed the club in strife. WATCH THE CCTV FOOTAGE
NSW
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After a hard day’s work labouring it was the habit of father-of-two Shane Townsend to head to his local, the Wisemans Ferry Bowling Club, for a cleansing ale.
The 49-year-old stopped by the club in the town beside the Hawksebury River a couple of times a week.
But one Friday — January 25 this year — he had a taste for more than one beer, settling in for a few hours.
At some point during the night, Mr Townsend, a talented water skier “full of life and energy”, was denied service from the bar.
Staff asked him to leave, and gave him a takeaway beer as an incentive.
He went out into the beer garden and drank it instead.
Mr Townsend then went back to the bar after it had closed.
The staff gave him more takeaway drinks anyway, in the hope he’d leave.
There was no courtesy bus to take locals home. Mr Townsend jumped behind the wheel of his ute.
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He drove onto the vehicle ferry across the Hawkesbury and turned onto Wisemans Ferry Road, then crashed into a telegraph pole and died.
He wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
Mr Townsend was less than five minutes drive from his home, where his partner, Selina Haydon, and their two children, Ashley, 15, and Tyler, 13, were sound asleep.
In a first for NSW, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) has taken action against a licensed venue for contributing to a fatal car crash.
For the next 12 months it will have a first strike against its name, meaning two more serious liquor licence breaches and the club secretary risks being disqualified from the industry permanently and the directors sacked.
ILGA has advised the club it will receive restrictions on its licence but it is still deciding exactly what those will be.
The club manager, who has since left, has already been fined $1100 by NSW Police for selling alcohol to an intoxicated person.
It has also been given its first strike, meaning two more serious liquor licence breaches and the club directors could be sacked or the secretary disqualified from the industry.
“This was a particularly serious breach of liquor laws involving highly irresponsible behaviour by club staff,” Liquor & Gaming NSW director of compliance operations Sean Goodchild said.
“The offence appears to have contributed to a tragic road fatality and compromised the safety of other road users.
“Staff firstly allowed the patron to become intoxicated.
“When he refused to leave, they then sold him takeaway beer and allowed him to drink it on the premises.
“He was then served more takeaway beer by another staff member outside of legal trading hours.
“This case highlights the need for all licensed venues to meet responsible service of alcohol obligations under NSW liquor laws.”
Ms Haydon, agreed: “I think (the club) have a big part in what happened to Shane that night and as much as he did the wrong thing so did they.”
On paper, the club’s official liquor licensing history is blemish free except for an indecent assault incident in January, 2017. But documents from the ILGA show Wiseman Ferry locals and police suggest there is a “high risk drinking culture” at the club, documents from the ILGA show.
An $1100 fine doesn’t seem like an fitting penalty for Mr Townsend’s family.
Contacted by The Sunday Telegraph last week, Ms Haydon agreed to an interview in the hope it would raise awareness about the responsibility pubs and clubs have in keeping their patrons safe.
Ms Haydon met Mr Townsend on the water 26 years ago when she was 17, after her boat ran out of fuel and he came to her aid.
Two decades later they had built their own home over looking the river in Lower Macdonald and had two children.
“His life was his kids,” Ms Haydon remembered.
On the night of his death, Mr Townsend hadn’t returned home by 7pm, which was highly unusual, and Ms Haydon tried to call him.
At 9pm, Ms Haydon contemplated driving down to the club to check if her partner was there.
“I didn’t and I wished I had,” she said.
At 3am, two police officers knocked on her door and told her about there had been an tragic accident.
While she strongly believed it was ultimately Mr Townsend’s decision to drive home that night, she wished the club called her or local police rather than serving him more alcohol.
“If you continue to serve someone alcohol because you just want to get rid of them or don’t have the confidence to say no to them, then ring the police if you can’t handle someone,” she said.
Seven months on, Ms Haydon says she hasn’t heard from the club.
It has a new licensee, implemented a code of conduct, worked closely with local licensing police and held regular debriefs with staff on how to remove drunk patrons.
Ms Haydon doesn’t want to see the club shut down but she struggles with the adequacy of a small fine.
“It is a fixture for the community, families use it, locals use it, it employs people,” she said.
“I think the club is a good thing but you have to take responsibility for the people that are in there spending the money that enables you to keep running.”
With ILGA considering liquor licence restrictions on the club, Ms Haydon hopes the new measures are monitored going forward.
“I would hate to see it happen to someone else and I am just grateful no one else got hurt that night,” she said.
Wisemans Ferry Bowling Club did not return calls asking to comment.
Originally published as Wisemans Ferry Bowling club fined over patron’s fatal car crash
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