Gang Bars Update
Police reluctance to shut down gang bars disturbing
December 23, 2005
Police raided the headquarters of Nelson’s outlaw motorcycle club, the Lost Breed in the early hours of Sunday morning.
They uncovered a ‘fully operational’ bar and seized more than $10 000, 3 chillers and about 750 bottles of alcoholic beverages.
More than 50 patrons found inside the bar are likely to face charges of drinking on unlicensed premises.
Nelson Bays area commander, Inspector Brian McGurk, said police had been aware of a bar-style venue operating at the headquarters for several years but only recently decided to raid it as part of a crackdown on alcohol-related activities.
“Unlicensed, gang operated bars have been around since the beginning of organised crime and gangs”, says WIN Party leader John van Buren, “but what should concern the licensed bar industry more than these bars existence, is a police reluctance to shut them down”.
“I find it disturbing when police can ignore the existence of these illegal bars yet commit resources to assist health authorities enforce the smoking ban on licensed premises”.
“My past involvement in the bar industry gives me insight into why police do turn a blind eye to these bars”.
“Some of the characters who patronise these unlicensed bars are that problematic, you would not want them on your premises, a factor behind police not shutting these bars down”.
“Still, at the end of the day though, these bars are illegal, and police should move against them just as vigorously as authorities have pursued and prosecuted WIN Party co-founder and Timaru publican Geoff Mulvihill for alleged breaches of the smokefree laws”.
“If a publican cannot turn a blind eye to patrons smoking in his bar, then how can police continue on doing the same with unlicensed bars?”
Contact John van Buren 03 329 3122 or 027 435 4955
Release Authorised by John van Buren – WIN Party leader
Dave Clarke – Press Secretary
Mobile: +64 21 179 1410
winparty@slingshot.co.nz
http://www.winparty.org.nz/
Tight tobacco display rules blamed for robbery risk
30 December 2005?
By KAREN HODGE
A savage hammer attack that nearly killed a Hawke’s Bay tobacconist may have gone unnoticed because of smoking laws that restrict shop facades.
Tightened smoking laws on the display of tobacco signage is now being blamed for putting retailers at greater risk of violent robberies.
Havelock North store owner Roger Steeg, 48, was recovering in Wellington Hospital yesterday. He was in a stable condition after a vicious attack by two hammer-wielding robbers on Tuesday afternoon.
Wearing bandannas over their faces, the men stormed his Discount Smoke Shop and repeatedly bashed him with a hammer.
Mr Steeg’s screams for help went unanswered and he was left for dead in a pool of blood, his hands tied behind his back by his attackers who stole thousands of dollars’ worth of tobacco.
In line with the new smoking laws introduced a year ago, Mr Steeg had covered the shop’s facade to ensure no tobacco products could be seen from the street.
Police sources said the store owner’s work to meet the regulations meant the robbers were able to carry out the attack with no one seeing.
The source said the robbery might not have happened had the inside of the store been visible to the public.
Retailers Association spokesman Barry Hellberg agreed the new smoking laws might need to be reconsidered in light of police concerns over the Hastings robbery.
“I think the police may have a point,” Mr Hellberg said. “Maybe it’s a case for the tobacco laws to be revisited.”
British American Tobacco spokesman Carrick Graham said tightening rules that attempted to hide tobacco made it more “alluring”.
“We will see more robberies. People are making the product more alluring and putting people at risk. There is ongoing concern by retailers, and we invest quite a bit of money on the units when we go into a dairy to make them robust and secure.”
A Health Ministry spokeswoman said that under the smokefree laws retailers must ensure tobacco products are not visible from outside the shop.
Meanwhile, Hastings police are appealing for public help to catch the two robbers responsible for Tuesday’s attack.
Detective Sergeant Luke Shadbolt said only “vague” information had come in about people behaving suspiciously in the Stortford Lodge area on Tuesday afternoon.
The robbers were most likely to sell the stolen cigarettes to friends and family cheaply, Mr Shadbolt said. The pair are thought to be of Maori or Pacific Island descent.
