A Riverina pub that allegedly served a minor 20 schooners and a handful of spirit-based drinks hours before he died in a road crash has been slapped with a two-week shutdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Temora Hotel is being forced to close for 14 days from Christmas Eve, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) announced.
The shutdown is over the death of a teenage boy who died in crash earlier this year after allegedly being served at the hotel in the hours before the "horrific" incident.
"The matter is subject to a police investigation and a coronial inquest, with the Authority's decision to suspend the hotel's licence triggered by the sale of alcohol to a minor and the licensee's complete failure to manage the risk of harm," ILGA chairman Philip Crawford said.
Murrells Hospitality Group, which owns the Temora Hotel, was contacted for comment.
Criminal charges were brought against the licensee and a venue patron under Strike Force Twyford in November.
According to ILGA, the teen was not asked for ID and spent seven hours drinking at the pub, engaging with or being served by every staff member on duty, including being given free drinks by the bar manager.
He was served 20 schooners of beer and four rum and cokes during the drinking session before CCTV shows him leaving the premises in a car with another male, the authority noted.
He was killed in a single-vehicle crash south of Temora a few hours later. He was the sole occupant of the car.
"Witnesses confirm he attended a house party briefly after (leaving the hotel)," the ILGR said.
"While not provided with alcohol at the party, the young male was already heavily intoxicated, and high levels of ecstasy would later be found in his bloodstream."
Police found intoxication, speed and driver error to be contributing factors to the tragic outcome, the ILGR said.
The 29-year-old licensee was charged with three counts of selling liquor to a minor on a licensed premises, two counts of person related to licensed premises supplying liquor and a single charge of licensee sell/supply liquor to intoxicated person.
The patron is facing three counts of person unrelated to licensed premises supplying liquor to a minor.
They will both appear before Temora Local Court on February 24.