A video shared to Facebook earlier this week showed an incident outside a Wellington nightclub. Photo / Supplied
A video shared to Facebook earlier this week showed an incident outside a Wellington nightclub. Photo / Supplied
Hospitality and security staff have weighed in on reports of escalating violence on Wellington streets, after the emergence of a video accusing nightclub bouncers of "brutality".
Earlier this week a video was shared to Facebook, accusing bouncers at Wellington nightclub Boston on Blair of assaulting a defenceless man outside thebar.
The video showed a person lying on the ground and bleeding while being kicked by one bouncer outside Boston on Blair nightclub.
On Wednesday a second video emerged, appearing to show the moments leading up to the attack, in which a patron took a swing at the bouncer.
Security service First Contact Limited puts security staff into around a dozen venues in Wellington city each weekend.
Managing director Darryl Stonnell said violence had always been part of the job.
But he said he had never seen an incident like the one captured on video outside Boston on Blair at the weekend.
"In almost 20 years of operation I can hand on heart say we have never had a situation like that at any of our licensed premises, that has gone that far out of control."
Police received a report of the alleged assault outside Boston on Blair just before 1am on Sunday.
On Friday, a police spokesperson said the incident was still being investigated.
Boston on Blair owner Nick Mills said earlier this week there had been another side to the video, but was unable to comment further while the investigation was underway.
Over the same weekend, police sought witnesses to a serious assault in the middle of Courtney Place at 2.45am on Saturday, which left a man seriously injured.
Last month, Lower Hutt man Simon Strickland, 58, died after a serious assault near Te Papa around 7pm on Saturday, February 13.
Stonnell said his staff were "having to deal with potentially critical situations almost on a nightly basis" but the outcome depended on how they responded.
"The potential for violence is always there. When you mix people and alcohol, you've got the potential for violence," he said.
"But it really comes down to how the security staff actually handle it."
CCTV footage later emerged, showing the moments leading up to the attack. Photo / Supplied
Hoffs Hospitality Group owner Matt McLaughlin said the violence had been worsening over the past year and had called a meeting on Monday to discuss possible solutions.
He expected the majority of Courtney Place bar owners to be there.
"It's been terrible for the last year and it doesn't seem to be changing and certainly not getting any better. In fact, I think it's getting worse," he said.
He said the video filmed outside Boston on Blair showed how violence could escalate and affect members of the public.
He said there could be multiple possible solutions, such as promoting a safe message through social media channels or working with police to bar people from venues.
"Down in Dunedin I've read of a group of bars that work with the police and [have] given people blanket trespass notices, and I think something like that would work really well in Wellington.
"That could start to really curb some of the issues we're seeing, by hopefully people getting banned from licensed premises … and they have to change their ways or they're barred from the local bars."
