A Newcastle restaurant has been fined $20,000 after it was found to be illegally operating as a nightclub under NSW liquor laws.
Former licensees Sean Driver and Samuel Luke have been convicted and fined over offences relating to selling and supplying liquor contrary to authority at the Soho restaurant on Darby Street.
The convictions come about as a result of an investigation by Liquor & Gaming NSW, after concerns that the business – which has a restaurant licence – was trading as a nightclub.
The investigation found the lower level of the restaurant empty, while the upstairs area was full with 80 to 100 people, drinking and dancing in a nightclub-style environment.
It follows a revocation of the venue’s primary service authorisation in December last year, when it was found that the business model resulted in an unacceptable level of anti-social behaviour.
