Videos presented to the Auckland District Licensing Committee, shows disorder outside BayLuck in Beach Rd. Video / Auckland Council
After a wild couple of years, the party may be over at BayLuck Karaoke.
The short but eventful life of the nightspot, tucked away in a rundown corner of downtown Auckland, has featured multiple stabbings, a drive-by shooting, mass brawls and public sex all linked to its patrons.
To topit off, a police raid on BayLuck earlier this year found cocaine in a back office, meth, ecstasy pills, and evidence of drug dealing including scales and snaplock bags, as first revealed in a Herald investigation that asked: “Is this Auckland’s wildest bar?”
The duty manager during the raid, also at the time a co-director of BayLuck’s controlling company, BNA Group, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possessing methamphetamine and was fined $800.
As a result, its liquor licence renewal was always going to be an uphill battle.
And now, in a damning decision, the Auckland District Licensing Committee has described BayLuck as embodying “alcohol-related harm in its rawest form”.
The committee slapped down its application for a new liquor licence, saying it believed BayLuck management had allowed the venue to be taken over by a “parasitic” and rogue third-party company touting events that included recurring Red Flag Fridays.
Son Cong (James) Nguyen - the sole remaining owner and director of BNA Group after Hsiang-Yao (Ian) Hsu’s drug prosecution - and his lawyer Jon Wiles, duly turned up to the Auckland Council chambers to seek a new licence a couple of months ago.
At the hearing, the committee watched videos of street brawls resembling running battles on Beach Rd outside BayLuck.
The committee heard evidence from Acting Sergeant Natalie Stringer of Auckland City police of alcohol-fuelled mayhem outside the venue.
The exterior of BayLuck in Beach Rd in a row of industrial buildings belies the plush interior inside, replete with large bar, VIP rooms and trimmings fit for an upscale club in Shanghai or Hanoi. Photo / George Block
Stringer was among the first police officers to arrive amid chaotic scenes at BayLuck on New Year’s Day last year after three men were stabbed outside.
Officers spoke to security outside BayLuck, who were obstructive and closed the door on them, police said, refusing to allow access to the venue.
Council licensing inspector James Leverett described the multiple nights he had staked out the venue in the early hours, recording notes of his observations and capturing videos.
At one visit, on September 4, he watched about 50 people leave BayLuck about 3am - its cut-off for serving alcohol - and spill onto the road, blocking traffic.
Several fights broke out and Leverett called the cops.
“Police arrived, but the first van full of officers were severely outnumbered and so could not act,” he wrote.
As fights, vomiting and general mayhem continued over the next half an hour, Leverett saw a drunk man unsteady on his feet urinate next to a car, then get into a vehicle and try to drive off, before abandoning the attempt.
He recorded similar scenes at other visits. On Saturday, October 8, he watched as a young couple left BayLuck and walked to some nearby steps.
“Moments later, the couple began engaging in full sexual intercourse while in a state of semi-undress,” his report said.
“This carried on for several minutes and would have been clearly visible to any member of the public who happened to walk past.”
On October 9, a car rolled past a group of patrons outside BayLuck.
The plush interior of BayLuck Karaoke and Lounge in Beach Rd, Auckland. Photo / Supplied
Someone inside the vehicle opened fire, with shots hitting one person in the chest and arm.
On December 19 a resident filed a complaint to Auckland Council and a video of a massive fight outside BayLuck the previous evening that closed the venue early and was broken up by police.
Central to the opposition from police and the council to BayLuck renewing its licence was the link between the venue and an outfit called Arby’s Entertainment.
Posts on BayLuck’s Instagram showed ads for Arby’s events Red Flag Fridays and Strangle Me Saturdays.
Those posts encouraged patrons to make “bad choices” at their “toxic” events and were cited by police and council in their opposition.
The committee’s written decision, signed by chair Gavin Campbell, said BayLuck management had in effect abdicated control of the premises to Arby’s to the detriment of the surrounding community.
The bar inside BayLuck. Photo / Supplied
“The evidence we heard demonstrated to us that Arby’s is a somewhat ‘parasitic’ organisation, that tends to find licensed premises that are struggling, for whatever reason and then, ‘moving in’, to operate those premises in a style that is basically repugnant to most people,” Campbell said.
“Clearly, their style of operation is aimed at a minority of people who can only be described in the video evidence that was shown to us as ‘thugs’.”
The decision did not hold back in castigating the way the venue operated.
‘In this matter and in our opinion, based on the evidence that we have heard and seen in the supplied video footage, then it is clear, that these premises embody alcohol-related harm in its rawest form.
“We heard and saw evidence of aggravated assaults, stabbings and in one incident a ‘drive-by shooting’ linked to patrons or potential patrons of the premises.”
The committee declined the alcohol licence renewal application and, as required by law, gave BayLuck 10 working days from July 20 to appeal the decision.
Approached for comment after the expiry of the appeal period, Auckland Council, Alcohol Regulatory & Licensing Authority and BayLuck’s lawyer all said they had not received notice of any appeal. BayLuck’s last social media post was five days before the date of the licensing authority decision.
Son Cong Nguyen vacated the company as a director on August 7, records show.
