Liquor laws losing fight in Kings Cross
Josh Quinn speaks to police after having his teeth knocked out.
It has been the scene of death, shootings and drunken violence - but not one club in Kings Cross has recorded a "black strike" of breaking alcohol laws.
In a desperate bid to curb inner-city crime, the goverment introduced a three strike policy targeting booze sales to "intoxicated and quarrelsome" patrons.
But since the controversial program was launched seven months ago, only 12 venues have recorded a single strike against them, with half of those in country NSW.
Police Union boss Scott Webber said the program was obviously a failure in light of an average of 15 assaults in Kings Cross each week.
 Thomas Kelly, 18. Source: The Daily Telegraph
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"A bowls club in Kensington has a strike but not one in Kings Cross, not a single one. It beggars belief because if you go there, you'll see massively intoxicated people everywhere. It tells you the legislation is not working," he said.
The legislation, which requires a police conviction, was brought in last year amid criticism the powerful Australian Hotels Association lobbied to have it watered down.
Mr Webber said police in Kings Cross were hamstrung by the red tape.
Brett Holmes from the Last Drinks Coalition said the scheme did not seem to be working. "It relies on police being able to get into venues, but in Kings Cross they're more occupied pulling drunks apart and putting them in ambulances" he said.
Last week's audit of pubs and clubs in Kings Cross ordered by Hospitality Minister George Souris after the death of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly on July 7 revealed inadequate CCTV in many venues and discrepancies in the reporting of incidents including assaults.
Head of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Dr Don Weatherburn said the number of assaults recorded did not give a true picture either.
"We already know for every one assault there is one not reported, so the number is probably double," he said.
Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said 80 per cent of police work in Kings Cross was tied up with alcohol, and while he did not want to be drawn into a debate about the three strikes policy, he did say convictions are notoriously difficult.
"If people are intoxicated, their memory is not flash, then we have to rely on external evidence and witnesses," Mr Murdoch said.
Mick Quinn knows first-hand the violence, but is grateful his 19-year-old son is alive.
Son Joshua, a Mt Annan carpentry apprentice, was king-hit by a drunk on the dance floor at Candy's nightclub last November, losing both his teeth and part of his jaw bone. The family said they will have to mortgage their home to pay the $20,000 bill to have them fixed.
Joshua was celebrating his girlfriend's 18th birthday at the club when a brawl broke out on the dance floor.
In defence of his nightclub, Candy's Apartment proprietor Tal Chalak said the club had only two violent incidents in six months despite catering to 20,000 patrons. "We have ID scanners and have cooperated with police," Mr Chalak said.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph, 29 July 2012
