Rogue Sydney licensees handed life bans over repeated breaches
May 18, 2015
AUSTRALIA – Two bar operators at Sydney’s infamous Kings Cross have earned the dubious honor of being the first people to ever be banned for life from holding a NSW liquor license.
John Barakat and Dominic Kaikaty, who ran Deja Vu from January 2013 to March 2014, have been found to repeatedly breach the conditions of their license as well as abuse police on social media sites, the Daily Telegraph reports.
On one occasion the bar served 10 shots, six beers and mixed spirits to a 15-year-old and 17-year-old before one of them vomited and collapsed on the footpath, where he claims to have been kicked by a security guard told to move on.
Barakat and Kaikaty have also used a cartoon of women taking drugs on promotional material for low-priced shots and they have appeared on a staff members’ Facebook page at their bar sticking their fingers in the air alongside a caption that reads: “F— You Kings Cross LAC”.
Kaikaty has also been convicted of distributing illegal drugs inside the bar — after he was found in possession of six small bags of cocaine.
The NSW minister for justice and police, Troy Grant, will announce the life bans today — the first ever issued by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, the Telegraph said.
“The contempt they showed for authorities is extraordinary and as a result of government action the party is well and truly over for these two,” Mr. Grant said.
Deja Vu is now under new management and is not associated in any way with Barakat or Kaikaty.