{"id":28265,"date":"2018-05-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/uncategorized\/david-%20penberthy-and-police-commissioner-clash-over-pub-charges\/"},"modified":"2018-05-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T00:00:00","slug":"david-%20penberthy-and-police-commissioner-clash-over-pub-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.fiveaa.com.au\/show\/david-%20penberthy-and-police-commissioner-clash-over-pub-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"David Penberthy And Police Commissioner Clash Over Pub Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has taken issue on FIVEAA breakfast with David Penberthy\u2019s criticism of charges laid against an Adelaide pub for breaching its licensing conditions, which included having one too many chairs on the footpath.<\/h3>\n

Mr Stevens confirmed \u201cabsolutely\u201d the charges against the Queen\u2019s Head Hotel<\/a> would go to court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard you on Monday when you had Mr Franzon on,\u201d the commissioner said. \u201cIt would be fair to say I\u2019m disappointed with the perspective that you showed in that article.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u201cI think it was unbalanced. I think you\u2019ve taken the word of an individual and you haven\u2019t tested that with obtaining the other version of the circumstances. I\u2019m not going to prosecute this case in the media, but what I will say is there is more to this than just one more chair than should have been there.<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe license conditions for the venue are quite specific. The obligation of the manager is to ensure that those license conditions are being met if they seek to profit from the consumption and sale of alcohol.<\/h3>\n

\u201cIf you were walking down that footpath with your wife — you\u2019re pushing a pram, you\u2019ve got your other kids — and you\u2019re forced to walk onto the roadway to get around the venue, I\u2019m sure you\u2019d take a different perspective and you\u2019d probably be writing an article saying that the licensing enforcement branch should be holding the venue to account.<\/h3>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s just remember it\u2019s not just one chair, we\u2019re not that petty. We look at public safety\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u201cI suppose the reason I get my back up, there are 40 people who do an excellent job in the Licensing Enforcement Branch. Their focus is on public safety. The swipe you had I think unfairly criticises 40 people who are out there trying to do the right thing.<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Penbo said he knew it wasn\u2019t the fault of police, but he believed \u201cthese laws are stupid\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI genuinely think when there are people who are a genuine menace to society it strikes me as a total waste of your time and our money,” he said.<\/h3>\n

\u201cIf there were bits of the story that were left out — because we try not to be in the business of providing unbalanced coverage of stuff that\u2019s happening in the community\u2026 we\u2019ll follow the trial with interest and if there\u2019s more to it than meets the eye, we\u2019ll report that.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

LISTEN:<\/p>\n\n