‘Nothing to deter licensees’: Coroner calls on pub spot checks after young man’s death

A coroner has called for random spot checks on pubs after a young man died in a car crash at Zeehan – after drinking 25 beers at a hotel.

Main Street, Zeehan

A coroner has called for random spot checks on pubs after a young man died in a car crash at Zeehan – having consumed 25 beers at a hotel.

In his findings handed down on Friday, Coroner Robert Webster said 24-year-old Jethro Wolf Douglas died in May 2021 after crashing his car into a brick and concrete pole near the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall on Zeehan’s Main Street.

Mr Webster said according to CCTV footage, the boilermaker-welder apprentice arrived at the pub at 4.45pm and left at 12.14am the next morning, consuming 25 glasses of beer, at least 10 ounces in size.

Mr Webster said the footage showed Mr Douglas was “clearly affected” throughout the evening, and was staggering by 11pm.

“At 11:45pm he nearly falls into the bar and three minutes later the barman brings Mr Douglas his 25th beer without much more than observing him at the bar from the other end,” the coroner said.

Zeehan, West Coast of Tasmania, Main Street

Mr Webster said after Mr Douglas left the pub, he drove at speeds of 101km/h around a curve, with a blood alcohol reading of five times the legal limit.

He died at the scene.

The coroner said Tasmania Police’s licensing division had not conducted an investigation of whether the Zeehan pub licensee had complied with licensing laws on the night in question – because the force did not have a licensing division in the state’s north and west.

He noted local police took some measures in the days and months after the accident, such as undertaking licensed premises checks and speaking to staff – but this only occurred after Mr Douglas’ death.

The Commissioner for Licensing also reported he did not conduct an investigation, because he had not been informed about the fatal accident and its possible connection to a breach of licensing laws.

Mr Webster said information sharing between police and the government’s liquor and gaming branch had not operated as intended – and noted the lack of checks and balances in ensuring the pub’s compliance with licensing laws.

Tasmania Police replied to the coroner’s concerns, saying senior staff would discuss ways to ensure “a consistent statewide approach” for information sharing with the liquor and gaming branch.

The pub’s licensee told the coroner’s office he did “not have a culture of sales over patron safety”, adding patrons were refused service if they’d had too much to drink.

Mr Webster recommended “regular, random spot checks” of licensed premises to ensure alcohol was being served responsibly – and for any potential breaches to be “fully investigated and prosecuted”.

Mr Webster also recommended Tasmania Police and the Office of the Commissioner for Licensing improve their communication regarding potential breaches of licensing laws.

“Should this not occur then I expect there will continue to be deaths in similar circumstances to that of Mr Douglas in the future because there appears to be nothing which deters a licensee to comply with his or her obligations under the Act,” he said.

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