The Beauty Bar Katherine to shut doors for good after latest break-in

“I feel my dream has been shattered”: A beauty salon owner in Katherine says it is with a “heavy heart” she will shut the small business she has built up over the past 14 years. The local member is furious.

The Beauty Bar Katherine will cease trading on June 15 amid repeated break-ins. Picture: Facebook

A small-business owner in Katherine says she feels like her dream has been “shattered” after making the decision to close her doors for the good in the wake of the latest smash and grab attack on her beauty bar.

Carrie-Anne Martin, owner of The Beauty Bar Katherine on Katherine Tce, took to social media on Sunday to advise her customers that June 15 would be her last day of trade.

“With being broken into yet again, it is with a heavy heart that I have decided to close the doors of The Beauty Bar,” she wrote.

“Unfortunately due to the state of the community and continued unrest within Katherine, it is no longer safe for me to remain open.

The Beauty Bar Katherine owner Carrie-Anne Martin will cease trading on June 15 amid repeated break-ins. Picture: Facebook

“I feel my dream has been shattered and with all the different emotions to manage, I feel I can’t go on at a professional level under these circumstances.

“This has not been an easy decision as this has been my whole world for the last 14 years.

“I’d appreciate if everyone could respect my privacy and refrain from asking ‘what will I do and where will I go’ as at this stage I have no clue.

“I have a lot to work through.”

Ms Martin said she would be contacting clients with bookings past June 15 to cancel and return deposits.

The Beauty Bar Katherine will cease trading on June 15 amid repeated break-ins. Picture: Facebook

Ms Martin was contacted for comment.

Katherine MLA Jo Hersey laid blame for the ongoing unrest in the township squarely at the feet of the Labor government.

“Good people with great businesses like Carrie at The Beauty Bar Katherine should never have to close down because of crime,” she said.

“It has been heartbreaking to have had conversations with Carrie over the heartache and mental anguish she feels after being broken into and violated over [eight times] in the last 18 months.

The Beauty Bar Katherine will cease trading on June 15 amid repeated break-ins. Picture: Facebook

“The Territory cannot go on like this.

“No matter what this Lawler Labor government says, they have shown over eight years that they will never step up and make people safe.”

NT Police told this masthead the business was most recently broken into on the evening of May 26, with initial investigations identifying six offenders.

Three suspects were subsequently located and conveyed home and left in the care of responsible adults.

Investigations are ongoing to locate the other three.

While much of the recent crime limelight has been on Alice Springs, Katherine has been having an equally torrid time of late.

Last month, Kirby’s Katherine Hotel was raided by booze bandits, while in April a respected teacher quit town after having a knife held to his throat, his stolen vehicle then being used to ram raid R&M Motorcycles on Giles St.

Early April also featured a spate of service station robberies in the Big Rivers township, including a shocking episode where youths sprayed an asthmatic female attendant, a grandmother, with a fire extinguisher.

Police Minister Brett Potter said that while curbing crime “won’t happen overnight,” the Labor government is arming police with the tools they need to succeed.

“[This includes] 200 more officers, more vans and vehicles on our roads, 25 more CCTV and call centre operators, and additional highly specialised police divisions targeting youth crime,” he said.