Lola’s owners ‘outraged’ after prosecutors refuse to withdraw charge despite fine being paid

A drawn out court battle for the owners of Lola’s Pergola is finally over after prosecutors withdrew a charge of breaching coronavirus restrictions.

Part of the large crowd at Lola's Pergola in Cullen Bay on the first night restrictions were eased in May. Picture: Supplied

UPDATE: A DRAWN out court battle for the owners of Lola’s Pergola is finally over after prosecutors withdrew a charge of breaching coronavirus restrictions.

Matt and Kitty Mulga initially contested an on-the-spot fine for the breach at the popular watering hole during the height of the pandemic before changing their mind and agreeing to pay.

On Monday, their lawyer Jon Tippett QC, fired up in the Darwin Local Court after he was told the prosecution had refused to withdraw the charge, despite the Mulgas having paid the fine.

Prosecutor Ian Rowbottom was absent from the hearing and it was relisted for Tuesday morning when it was apologies all around as the lawyers came to an amicable resolution.

Mr Tippett apologised for losing his cool after Mr Rowbottom apparently welshed on the deal the day before, saying it was “part and parcel of my personality and style”.

“But it is pretty irritating when you spend a fair bit of time down in a courtroom and you could be doing other things — and you’re here on time,” he said.

For his part, Mr Rowbottom apologised for his absence on Monday citing “a bit of confusion about what was required”.

“I do apologise for that and not being there but I had reiterated that to the other lawyers — what was required was the receipt number and the amount,” he said.

“Having paid the fine ticket now in full the prosecution will withdraw the charge.”

EARLIER: THE owners of Lola’s Pergola will be “outraged” after prosecutors agreed to allow them to pay a fine for breaching social distancing rules and then refused to withdraw the charge, a court has heard.

Owners of the popular nightspot, Matt and Kitty Mulga, initially contested the on-the-spot fine for breaching the Chief Health Officer’s directions at the height of the coronavirus pandemic before abandoning the fight earlier this month.

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On Monday, their lawyer Jon Tippett QC, told the Darwin Local Court they had now paid the fine as per an agreement with the prosecution and “the only thing that remains now is for the present proceedings to be withdrawn”.

But when prosecutor Ian Rowbottom was unable to attend the hearing due to an engagement in another court, his colleague Simon Lipert passed him a note asking for permission to withdraw and received a single word answer — “no”.

In reply, an incensed Mr Tippett railed against the “arrogance” of the publicly funded prosecution service, describing their attitude as “an affront”.

“Simply ‘no’, no grounds, no explanation, no reasons, I mean it is a an affront to the Chief Local Court Judge that that be put before you,” he said.

“Two prosecutors, fully paid up, government wages, sitting there and they come to court and go ‘no’ — well I just think that’s unacceptable, my clients will regard it as an outrage and quite rightly so, bearing in mind what they’ve done.”

Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris said she did not have the power to force the prosecution to withdraw the charge and stood the matter down but Mr Tippett demanded an explanation.

“Some explanation should be given for that and I think your honour deserves one, certainly my clients do and I certainly deserve one in my respectful submission,” he said.

“The prosecution’s got a lot of money to sort these things out and it’s not using it very judiciously at the present time.”

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Mr Lipert rose to his feet only to “apologise on behalf of Mr Tippett and other practitioners for the disrespect shown”.

More to come.