Sydney venues take precautions ahead of any coronavirus related break-ins
Some Sydney chefs and pub owners are taking no chances during the lockdown period as they look at different ways to protect their stock while their venues are forced to close.
Sydney publican Kelly Hargreaves has boarded the windows and doors of now closed Surry Hills pub The Strawberry Hills Hotel, in addition to removing all the alcohol from the venue.
“The other issue is that we have some very expensive windows which are extremely costly to replace,” Hargreaves told The Sunday Telegraph.
“So we only need a couple of those broken for it to be very expensive, let alone (have) looters.”
Solotel’s Matt Moran said the possibility of break-ins is one everyone’s mind.
“I don’t think we’re at anarchy yet. And I hope we don’t ever get there,” Moran said.
“But we have removed pretty much everything from our venues as a precaution.”
Former cop turned chef Attila Yilmaz said he was sleeping in his restaurant to keep it safe from a potential crime wave.
“If we were physically fighting over toilet paper and spitting in each others faces even before two million people lost their jobs … what happens now?” he said.
“We're facing a scenario where people are going to be increasingly desperate and are going to do whatever it takes to survive.
“Obviously crime rates will increase. So the government needs to seriously step up.”
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said he was concerned about property crime, including commercial break ins and fraud in the future.
“We are taking it day by day but we would be concerned around breaking into retail stores and storage facilities where there may be bulk storage of items,” Fuller told The Sunday Telegraph.
“That is certainly something we are watching very closely.”
Sheridan Randall, 1st April 2020
