A MANDURAH couple are calling for an end to violent and anti-social behaviour at licensed venues after a vicious attack left one of them with severe bruising and a broken tooth.
The man, who does not wish to be named, was at Players Bar on January 12 when he said he was assaulted by two other patrons.
Describing the attack as unprovoked and without cause, the man was escorted from the venue by his partner and two friends while the assailants fled the scene.
The victim was taken to Peel Health Campus where he was later discharged and sent home the next day.
Security was not present during the attack as they were attending to another disruptive patron at the back exit of the venue.
After several failed attempts to file a report with local police the victim has decided to try to move on with his life - but the mental scars remain.
His partner said she has had to apply foundation to his face in order to cover his bruising as he has been embarrassed to go out in public.
She also described the attack as unexpected as the venue was not busy and they had not spoken with any other patrons.
“He said he wishes he had known it was coming so he could have run away,” the woman said.
“He’s not a violent person and he has never provoked anyone.”
The couple, who moved to Mandurah from Tom Price about a year ago, said they had only been out twice before and had not experienced any trouble during those outings.
They said the attack had left them shaken and concerned about the level of violence at venues.
“People told us that we were lucky we weren’t stabbed,” the woman said.
“We had always held the belief that if you’re in trouble, you had been asking for it, but this has put us off completely.
“It’s a big wake-up call - you hear about these attacks in Northbridge but we had never expected for it to happen here.”
The couple said that a lack of discipline from law enforcement and no steady presence meant there was little to deter violent patrons from committing assaults.
Toucan and Players general manager Mark O’Neill agreed with the couple and said the level of violence around nightclubs in Mandurah had been steadily increasing over the past few years with it now nearing “boiling point”.
“This is a problem - having a unique entertainment area like Mandurah with a closed off mall allows patrons to hang around and loiter for hours after being ejected or refused entry,” Mr O’Neill said.
“There is no consequence for offenders’ behaviour and this problem is increasing at an alarming rate; punters are getting smarter and know that the police presence in Mandurah is low.
“Despite what is fed to the public from senior police, the police on a regular basis are unable to attend to incidents in a timely manner or with enough resources.”
Mandurah Police senior sergeant Chris Hoath said while he acknowledged the problem of patrons leaving venues and spilling onto the street, police should not have to constantly patrol the area.
He said it was true that the main entertainment district along Smart Street Mall was problematic due to no traffic flow which allowed patrons to loiter outside or near venues.
Snr-sgt Hoath also said excessive pre-drinking before going out to venues contributed to the anti-social nature of some patrons.
“Some people commit vandalism and assault after leaving clubs pubs and bars and we [police] have infrequent incidents of common assault occasioning bodily harm,” Snr-sgt Hoath said.
“It’s because they have nowhere to go, so it can only take one person to be disruptive or instigate an argument to start a fight or to vandalise property.”
Snr-sgt Hoath disagreed police should be present at all times at the venues.
“We’re not security guards and we can’t be at these places all of the time,” he said.
New CCTV equipment installed at Smart Street Mall will soon provide police with a 24-hour live feed of the area, allowing them to monitor and respond to anti-social behaviour.
But Mr O’Neill has disagreed and said that operations such as those during Christmas and New Years resulted in largely trouble-free nights due to the stronger police presence.
He said that security presence was sometimes not enough, despite constant radio contact to make sure unruly partons were not allowed at either Toucan Club or Players Bar.
During the heightened incidents of anti-social behaviour over the Christmas period, local security group MIG took over from Scorcher Security in mid-December.
However Mr Hoath said that there was no difference in the number of complaints or incidences regarding either security company or anti-social behaviour and it was unfair to either criticise or congratulate any specific security group.
Mr O’Neill could not comment on the reason for changing security companies but did say that the issue of violence at nightclubs was now at boiling point unless all stakeholders, including police, the council and licensed venues all pull together to resolve the issue.
“There is no short term fix rather a long term proactive strategy needs to be adopted by venues, police, council and liquor licensing,” he said.
However not all venues are concerned about violent or disruptive patrons.
Murphy’s Irish Pub general manager Peta Janiec said that generally they had very few incidences of anti-social behaviour, attributing it to their family-focused atmosphere and strict security.
“There were no incidences over the Christmas period, we had more security on than required by liquor licensing,” Mrs Janiec said.
“There were a lot of refusals, it’s not about being necessarily drunk but about their attitude.”
Mrs Janiec said that those responsible for anti-social behaviour at venues are “not suppose to be there in the first place” and careful monitoring of patrons behaviour and entry policy had staved off most possibilities of unruly actions.
“I would say that 99.9 per cent of patrons come out to enjoy themselves and with friends, it’s very safe, definitely at our venue and I think it’s only a small minority that cause trouble.”
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