The owner of the infamous Rapture Nightclub in Perth has found himself in hot water once again, but this time it could cost him his liquor license.
Neil Scott, the owner of Rapture has been subject to intense media scrutiny after his frankly appalling treatment of a drink-spiking victim earlier this month.
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19-year-old Shantel Smith reached out to the venue after believing she had been spiked, only to be met with skepticism and hate from the owner himself.
The long list of insulting responses to Shantel’s message included calling her not “particularly attractive” and questioning why anyone would want to spike her drink.
But if you thought the initial response was terrible, brace yourself because the follow up interviews were even worse. Scott claimed that nobody had ever been spiked at the club, and insinuated that Shantel must be trying to “get” something out of the claim.
Obviously, this infuriated thousands of people across Australia, including a Perth lawyer, who is now trying to have the venue’s licensing revoked.
Since the ordeal, Catriona Macleod of Cullen Macleod law firm has called for Scott’s liquor license to be revoked. Macleod is the director of Cullen Macleod, one of Perths leading law firms when it comes to liquor licensing and alcohol-related legalities, according to Daily Mail.
Catriona believes that Neil Scott’s behaviour demonstrates that he’s unfit to hold a liquor license, and is working to get it revoked.
“The licensing authority needs to investigate if he’s a fit and proper person to hold that licence and if what’s been reported is true. In my opinion he’s not fit and proper,” she said.
Since the ordeal, Catriona has sent a formal complaint to the Liquor Licensing and Liquor Enforcement Unit Director, hoping to get Neil’s license revoked or at least investigated.
“I think his behaviour is pretty reprehensible in how he’s responded,” Macleod told Daily Mail.
Catriona’s complaint has been received by the Liquor Licensing and Liquor Enforcement Authority, and is currently being investigated.
“I was pretty aghast. The whole purpose of our liquor act are to minimise the harm that’s associated with alcohol. He failed to take it seriously, he failed to look into it,” she said “It was such a terrible response repeatedly. You can’t say these things to people.”
The authority is yet to announce whether or not they’ll take action against Neil Scott. However, as a knowledgeable legal professional who specialises in liquor licensing, it is doubtful that Catriona Macleod would file a complaint without a valid reason.
