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Source: ONE News -
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A Wellington bar owner is being warned he could be in breach of
human rights laws for banning youths from his pub.
Jamie Williams has banished under-20s on weekends after a group of
youths trashed the brand new Paraparaumu bar at the weekend.
Williams says he is taking a stand after more than 250 young
drinkers left his new bar looking like a war zone.
"People trying to smuggle in their own booze and hand over bourbon over the garden bar, graffiti-ing the women's toilets, spitting on the men's toilet's TV, probably $700 or $800 worth of broken glassware in two nights."
The owner says much of the damage occurred in the bathrooms where there are no security cameras.
He says among the damage, toilet paper dispensers were ripped off and in the women's bathroom entire panels of the wallpaper had to be replaced to cover graffiti.
The bar is so new it's still being built but the damage from its very first weekend open stands at $3,000.
"One lady asked us for an escort out of a bar because she felt it was just too intimidating to walk through the crowd," says Williams.
Locals are toasting the ban.
"As far as the behaviour that occurred over there, totally unacceptable," says Alasdair MacMillan of Kapiti Police.
One person says it's sad that everyone's getting banned just because of a stupid mistake by a few people.
The Human Rights Commission warns the policy "could potentially breach the Human Rights Act" and "while bars have the right to refuse entry they should be careful not to do so on the grounds of age, sex or ethnicity".
But the bar owner says the damage can't happen again.
