In recent months, there has been a state-wide push to close licensed venues earlier and to enforce curfews that refuse patrons entry after 2am. The purpose of these curfews or lockouts was to reduce violence like stabbings, glassings and brawls that occur in and around pubs and clubs. But with the rise in popularity of 24 hour or late trade fast food stores, street violence is again on the rise, as highly intoxicated patrons gather to eat, and subsequently fight.
In Richmond, in Sydney’s west, street violence in late trade restaurants has the local police and council worried. A 2008 report prepared by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) shows that since 2004, alcohol related assaults have increased by 15 per cent in the Hawkesbury area.
Senior Constable Enman from Windsor police has placed the blame firmly on 24 hour fast food outlets. “Most brawls occur in the early hours of the morning,” he said. “At that time, everyone gets a bit hungry, especially when they’ve had a lot to drink, then someone looks at someone the wrong way and suddenly violence breaks out.”
Richmond is also home to a residential campus for university students. With almost four hundred residents, aged between 18 and 25, many of them frequent the local night spots, and have witnessed countless brawls. Nursing student, Stacey Wright, 22 says, “There are always fights out in the streets. People end up standing around drunk, pigging out on fast food, and before you know it, someone’s on the ground bleeding. It’s sad, but you almost get used to it.”
However, not everyone wants to see late night fast food trade end. For the local kebab shop, Friday and Saturday nights are when the store does the best business. They depend on the trade from patrons exiting the local pubs and nightclubs which close at 3am. For them, recent efforts made by police to petition the council into restricting trading hours for venues like the Richmond Star Kebab House comes as a severe blow. Helen Bozkurt, who owns the Richmond Star Kebab House in Windsor Rd says that they are being unfairly blamed and subsequently punished for the drunken behaviour of some of their customers. “It has nothing to do with us. People are going to do what they want. If they get drunk, act stupid and get into fights, that’s not our fault.” Mrs Bozkurt, who runs the store with her husband and two sons, said, “We’re just a family trying to make a living.”
The fight to trade continues for the Bozkurt’s and others like them in Richmond. In the meantime, NSW Police have prepared a report on street violence, which is currently before the council; with the intention of ensuring food outlets like the Richmond Star Kebab House are forced to close earlier. Senior Constable Enman believes “reduced trade would certainly benefit the public.”
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