The owner of the only two pubs in the outback town of Derby, around 2,400 kilometres north of Perth, has been ordered to pay thousands to the Crown over liquor breaches during COVID-19, adding another chapter to a six-year legal saga.
The Spinifex Hotel and Boab Inn, both owned by Emanuel Brian Dillon, have faced a series of regulatory proceedings and massive fines over alleged breaches of Western Australia’s liquor laws.
The latest action relates to pandemic-era restrictions introduced across the Kimberley to limit alcohol sales and address liquor-fuelled violence.
The matter began in March 2020 when an off-duty senior police officer visited the Spinifex Hotel bottleshop and witnessed a customer being sold two cartons of Emu Export, despite the applicable limit allowing customers to purchase only one carton.
The staff member reportedly processed the purchases as separate transactions. The hotel was issued an infringement notice, which it paid.
About nine months later, Liquor Enforcement officers found the Boab Inn did not have an approved manager on duty. Another infringement notice was issued and paid.
A subsequent audit found further alleged breaches during January 2021, with sales exceeding the applicable liquor limits at both the Spinifex Hotel and Boab Inn.
The State Administrative Tribunal has now imposed a combined $9,000 penalty on the company and its director over the January 2021 conduct.
In a separate decision, the Director of Liquor Licensing ordered the business to repay about $25,000, representing the estimated financial advantage it obtained during the contraventions.
The payment is to be made to the Crown within four months, with the company agreeing to the order.
The latest proceedings are separate from a major penalty imposed by the Liquor Commission in May last year.
The Commission had ordered penalties totalling $140,000 over what it found were numerous and repeated breaches of the Liquor Control Act.
That decision was later overturned by the WA Supreme Court after it found the pubs had not been afforded appropriate procedural fairness. The matter was sent back to the Liquor Commission for further consideration.
The lengthy dispute has involved allegations dating back to 2019 and has included multiple infringement notices, tribunal proceedings and court action.
The latest $25,000 forfeiture order and $9,000 penalty bring further financial consequences for the Derby businesses over conduct arising from the temporary liquor restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
