Country pub is forced to shut after an underage boy, 17, was given 20 schooners of beer and four rum and cokes before dying in a car crash
A pub in the NSW Riverina is being shut down after serving 20 schooners and four rum and cokes to a teenage boy who then died in a car crash.
The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority said the Temora Hotel would be forced to shut on Christmas eve for 14 days after the 17-year-old died, hours after drinking at the pub in March.
ILGA chairman Philip Crawford says the incident is about as horrific as it gets.
'The matter is subject to a police investigation and a coronial inquest, with the authority's decision to suspend the hotel's licence triggered by the sale of alcohol to a minor and the licensee's complete failure to manage the risk of harm,' Mr Crawford said on Wednesday
The Temora hotel, in New South Wales Riverina region, will be forced to shut on Christmas eve for 14 days after a 17-year-old who drank on the premises in March died in a car crash hours later
The teen was not asked for ID despite spending around seven hours drinking at the pub and engaging with or being served by every staff member on duty, including being given free drinks by the bar manager, he said.
After leaving the pub, CCTV footage shows him getting into a car with another male, and witnesses confirm he went to a party.
He wasn't provided with alcohol at the party, but was already heavily intoxicated, and high levels of ecstasy were later found in his bloodstream, the ILGA said.
He drove around Temora for a couple of hours and was killed in a single vehicle collision on the outskirts of a nearby town, with police finding intoxication, speed and driver error were contributing factors in causing the crash.
'There's no going back from such a tragedy caused by the systemic failings that put this young person in harm's way,' Mr Crawford said.
'The messages are clear: check the ages of patrons, repeat if necessary, exclude minors from licensed areas, and do not sell alcohol to people showing signs of intoxication no matter how old they are.'
The teenager drank 20 schooners of beer and four rum and cokes over the course of seven hours without being asked for ID (stock image)