The owner of a Perth bar has failed to convince a magistrate he should receive a fine for hosting a "hidden" New Year's Eve party in breach of strict COVID rules that were in place to contain an outbreak of the virus.
Instead, Vinod Parihar, the 41-year-old owner of The George bar in the CBD, was given a seven-month suspended jail term, with Chief Magistrate Steven Heath ruling the breaches were too serious for anything other than a term of imprisonment.
On December 31 last year, police were confronted by locked doors and black curtains covering the windows when they went to the bar because of a noise complaint.
It was the second time that night police had attended the bar.
The first time, a few hours earlier, officers had witnessed some of the 200 or so partygoers not wearing masks, dancing, and standing up while drinking — all of which were in breach of strict measures that were in place because of a Delta outbreak amongst backpackers.
Parihar was warned, but when police managed to gain entry the second time after scaling a locked gate, they saw partygoers seated haphazardly, including some who were sitting on people's laps and up against walls.
Police then shut down the function.
Parihar 'genuinely remorseful'
Parihar pleaded guilty to two charges and his lawyer argued the 41-year-old was genuinely remorseful for what he had done and should be fined.
Magistrate Heath accepted that Parihar was not the organiser of the event and that he had made several announcements on the night to try to get patrons to comply with the COVID requirements.
However, he said Parihar had permitted the event to happen at a time when other New Years' Eve functions had been cancelled.
Magistrate Heath said the event could have aided the transmission of the virus and Parihar had an obligation to act decisively to prevent that.
Parihar, who pleaded guilty to two charges, was given a seven-month jail term, but it was suspended for 12 months.
