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A popular Kings Cross strip club hit with a steep fine for breaching COVID-19 restrictions has won a partial reprieve after pleading for leniency over a “disaster” year.
The owners of adult entertainment venue Bada Bing Nightspot were hit with a $5000 fine on a Saturday night in August after being pinged breaching public health orders by police.
According to court documents, the club was “busier than it had been for a long time” on August 22 when police observed mingling between different groups of customers and not enough distance between tables.
The COVID-19 safety plan was not correct and there was no marshall on the premises, the officer noted.
Hassan Saleh entered a guilty plea on behalf of Sapphire Lounge Pty Ltd, owned by his father Charlie Saleh, in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, but asked for the fine to be lowered.
“Financially we’re just completely at a loss as to how to pay it,” he told Magistrate Michael Crompton.
Mr Saleh said the lockout laws — introduced in 2014 and lifted just last week — had already impacted Sapphire Lounge, before the COVID-19 pandemic made things even tougher.
Mr Crompton downgraded the fine to $3000.
Mr Saleh told NCA NewsWire the past year had been “just a disaster” for the business, which includes Bada Bing and Limited, the nightclub on the ground floor.
“Complete disaster. The nightclub downstairs hasn’t been able to open for a year,” he said.
“It’s just been tough. Lockout laws have changed now; hopefully it’s a bit of a light on the horizon.”
Before the matter landed in court, Mr Saleh appealed to the fines administration commissioner, noting Sapphire Lounge’s “good record” considering the “amount of scrutiny” on the Kings Cross precinct.
The business had “suffered horribly” under the double burden of lockout laws and COVID-19, he wrote, noting government rules had prohibited reopening for a long time.
But the commissioner was unmoved, replying in an October letter: “While we understand the recent impact of COVID-19 on your financial situation, leniency is inappropriate as it is considered serious due to the need to protect the health of the NSW public.”
Mr Saleh told NCA NewsWire the $5000 fine, characterised as a “small mistake” in the written appeal, was issued over “two patrons talking over a metre and a half gap who weren’t meant to be talking”.
But he said the magistrate’s decision to impose a $3000 fine was “fair enough”.
“He’s just doing his job,” he said. “Better than $5000.”
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