Officers from Leichhardt Police Area Command have served a business on Norton St, Leichhardt with an order to close this morning (Saturday 14 August 2021) due to alleged repeated breaches of the public health orders.
The closure order follows a number of previous interactions with the business owner due to numerous complaints from members of the public.
Police have attended the café a total of ten times in the past two weeks and issued the owner five PINs for breaching the public health orders. The owner has also been arrested and charged on two separate occasions with a number offences relating to alleged breaches of the public health orders, and those matters remain before the courts.
Police will allege the owner has been seen on a number of occasions preparing and serving food without a mask and allowing customers to sit inside and outside the café, in contravention of the current rules.
He has also allegedly refused to produce a COVID-19 Safety Plan when asked, as required under the public health order.
This café owner, a 44-year-old man, has shown a blatant disregard for the health and safety of his community for an extended period of time, and his business will now stay closed until I'm satisfied there is no further risk to public health.
