A pub in suburban Camden went through the PR wringer this week as shock-hungry media latched onto a police report that mentioned a “glassing”.
PubTIC contacted the Camden Hotel, which initially resisted discussion on the subject, after a number of publications had trotted out a blurry account of the night that painted the pub as complacent at best.
“This kind of thing has become a political football,” explained licensee Andrew Valciukas, who worries the pub will continue to receive bad publicity over the incident.
Valciukas relayed that two men were apparently interested in the same woman on the dance floor and heated words resulted, with one then head-butting the other and throwing some cheap punches, and as friends attempted to separate the two, smashing a glass into the other’s head, leaving him with significant injuries.
Security quickly apprehended the man, who had fled to the gaming room, and he was escorted out and detained until police – who had just conducted a thorough spot-search of the premises with sniffer dogs – were alerted to the man’s whereabouts nearby and he was arrested.
During this time the injured man was taken outside by friends, and subsequently received treatment before being taken to hospital with deep lacerations to his face and a cut in his left eye.
The search had revealed no issues and a dozen police were in the process of leaving when the incident took place, just short of midnight. Valciukas was working on the night and reported that there was no intimation of wrong-doing by the pub from police.
One patron’s disgraceful behaviour cost the hotel over an hour’s peak trading on a Saturday night, and potentially tarnished its reputation – as it positions itself as something of a “sophisticated” choice.
“The act could not be described as anything less than criminal,” said Valciukas. And yet the media reports focus on the fact that it occurred in a hotel, as though that was the root of the problem.
The offender is due to appear in Picton Local Court in April, but the damage has been done – both by him to the individual requiring eye surgery, and by what passes for journalism in the “bleeds leads” mindset.
PubTIC is currently making enquiries as to the case for compensation to the hotel and will report on further developments.