Kalidonis Taverna: Youths target restaurant for third time this year
The heartbroken manager of a Darwin Greek restaurant is calling for government help after being broken into for a third time this year.
Northern Territory
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THE latest break in at Kalidonis Taverna could not have come at a worse time for manager Foula Karambetis.
“It’s happening over and over again,”
“We need help — business is suffering,” she said.
The Greek restaurant was targeted by youths at around 5.30am this morning, with three people wearing masks captured by CCTV.
They were filmed throwing rocks to smash the glass to gain entry and ripping the handle off the front door.
It isn’t the first time this year that the venue has been broken into, with mainly alcohol stolen.
“I’ve lost count of how many (times) — it’s every two or three months,” Mrs Karambetis said.
They left a trail of blood behind, and empty bottles on a table where it is alleged they sat and drank this morning.
She said the latest attack was compounded by multiple lockdowns and mandates on their staff.
“Covid-19 affected us in more ways than one.”
“I lost a lot of employees with the mandate and this is just the cherry on top,” she said.
While taking bookings for the night ahead, Mrs Karambetis was busy organising both police and a glass repair man to assess and fix the damage.
She also was getting in cleaners to do a deep clean of the restaurant.
“I don’t know where these people have come from — I’ve got to disinfect everything,” she said.
“With the pandemic that’s happening I’m not going to put our people at risk.”
Mrs Karambetis is calling on the State Government to provide more help for businesses affected by petty crimes.
“I wish for all the small business that they don’t go through what I’m going through,” she said.
“I know it’s not (Gunner’s) fault but we need help. We can’t keep doing this.
“We did everything right, we’ve done our vaccinations but he’s not helping us with the break-ins,” she said.
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