news, latest-news, cube nightclub, cube nightclub canberra, Joshua Cicchini, eliza wilson
Cube nightclub is being investigated for potentially breaching its liquor licence after inquiries into a sexual assault allegation revealed the club only kept up to nine days of CCTV footage. The alleged incident was reported on February 25 but an investigation was effectively dropped after police failed to visit the Civic venue before the video was taped over. Cube owner Joshua Cicchini told the Sunday Canberra Times last week the club’s hard drive did not have the capacity to store footage for longer than that timeframe. But police have revealed a review of the establishment’s risk assessment management plan included a commitment to maintain CCTV recordings for 21 days. A police spokesperson said ACT Policing and Access Canberra were considering the matter and exploring further action against the club. If found to be in breach of the legislation, Cube could face fines or the potential loss of its licence. Police said attempts had been made to contact Mr Cicchini via email, voicemail and through a web enquiry form prior to visiting the venue seven days after the alleged assault was reported to them. They said the case officer’s response to the report of sexual assault was reasonable, indicating no review of procedure or disciplinary action would take place. Police said when the case officer returned from leave and they visited the nightclub on March 4, Cube staff informed them they had seen the prior request but footage was no longer available. Mr Cicchini was unable to provide a comprehensive response explaining why staff had reported seeing a request and ignoring it. Having first claimed he would never forget a request to help identify an alleged sexual assault perpetrator, Mr Cicchini said this week he did not remember the visit from police on March 4. He said no other staff member had access to that footage or authority to access it, but it could have been security staff who informed police they’d seen the request and it had been deleted anyway. When confronted with this inconsistency, Mr Cicchini said: “No comment.” Mr Cicchini on Friday said he had since upgraded his system to allow storage for 22 days. He said the venue was looking at other ways to keep patrons safe, including the suggestions made by Eliza Wilson, the young woman who made the allegation. In an email sent to Ms Wilson 30 minutes after being alerted to the fact his establishment was under investigation, Mr Cicchini said he was also looking into other measures to keep patrons safe. “I am deeply saddened to hear that you have been sexually assaulted in Cube,” Mr Cicchini wrote on Friday, following Ms Wilson’s request for an apology made a fortnight ago. “The staff of any venue are always ready to help whenever they know something has happened.” Ms Wilson said while it wasn’t her place to decide what type of action, if any, was taken against Cube or police, she hoped her case had highlighted the importance of treating sexual assault allegations as a priority. Ms Wilson said these failings had only exacerbated her suffering while her perpetrator was still walking around freely without facing any consequences. “Overall, I want Cube to step up and do better,” Ms Wilson said. The Australian National University student met with Legislative Assembly member Tara Cheyne on Friday to discuss the potential for reform to better protect victims of sexual assault inside licensed venues. READ MORE: In the meeting, Ms Cheyne promised to raise the proposal for legislating the storage of CCTV footage in the ACT with Attorney General Shane Rattenbury, Ms Wilson said. She said she would also discuss the potential of introducing ID scanners with the Australian Hotel Association in coming weeks. Ms Wilson said she had also asked Ms Cheyne to establish whether it took a newspaper article to prompt police into examining Cube’s duty of care. She said if that was the case, it was unacceptable. “It implies they are acting in response to scrutiny, not to support me, a victim of crime, or the general public,” Ms Wilson said. “Survivors should not have to go to the media in order for the police to properly investigate their case.” Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
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Cube nightclub is being investigated for potentially breaching its liquor licence after inquiries into a sexual assault allegation revealed the club only kept up to nine days of CCTV footage.
The alleged incident was reported on February 25 but an investigation was effectively dropped after police failed to visit the Civic venue before the video was taped over.
But police have revealed a review of the establishment’s risk assessment management plan included a commitment to maintain CCTV recordings for 21 days.
A police spokesperson said ACT Policing and Access Canberra were considering the matter and exploring further action against the club.
If found to be in breach of the legislation, Cube could face fines or the potential loss of its licence.
Police said attempts had been made to contact Mr Cicchini via email, voicemail and through a web enquiry form prior to visiting the venue seven days after the alleged assault was reported to them.
They said the case officer’s response to the report of sexual assault was reasonable, indicating no review of procedure or disciplinary action would take place.
Police said when the case officer returned from leave and they visited the nightclub on March 4, Cube staff informed them they had seen the prior request but footage was no longer available.
Mr Cicchini was unable to provide a comprehensive response explaining why staff had reported seeing a request and ignoring it.
Having first claimed he would never forget a request to help identify an alleged sexual assault perpetrator, Mr Cicchini said this week he did not remember the visit from police on March 4.
He said no other staff member had access to that footage or authority to access it, but it could have been security staff who informed police they’d seen the request and it had been deleted anyway.
When confronted with this inconsistency, Mr Cicchini said: “No comment.”
Mr Cicchini on Friday said he had since upgraded his system to allow storage for 22 days.
He said the venue was looking at other ways to keep patrons safe, including the suggestions made by Eliza Wilson, the young woman who made the allegation.
In an email sent to Ms Wilson 30 minutes after being alerted to the fact his establishment was under investigation, Mr Cicchini said he was also looking into other measures to keep patrons safe.
“I am deeply saddened to hear that you have been sexually assaulted in Cube,” Mr Cicchini wrote on Friday, following Ms Wilson’s request for an apology made a fortnight ago.
“The staff of any venue are always ready to help whenever they know something has happened.”
Ms Wilson said while it wasn’t her place to decide what type of action, if any, was taken against Cube or police, she hoped her case had highlighted the importance of treating sexual assault allegations as a priority.
Ms Wilson said these failings had only exacerbated her suffering while her perpetrator was still walking around freely without facing any consequences.
“Overall, I want Cube to step up and do better,” Ms Wilson said.
The Australian National University student met with Legislative Assembly member Tara Cheyne on Friday to discuss the potential for reform to better protect victims of sexual assault inside licensed venues.
In the meeting, Ms Cheyne promised to raise the proposal for legislating the storage of CCTV footage in the ACT with Attorney General Shane Rattenbury, Ms Wilson said.
She said she would also discuss the potential of introducing ID scanners with the Australian Hotel Association in coming weeks.
Ms Wilson said she had also asked Ms Cheyne to establish whether it took a newspaper article to prompt police into examining Cube’s duty of care.
She said if that was the case, it was unacceptable.
“It implies they are acting in response to scrutiny, not to support me, a victim of crime, or the general public,” Ms Wilson said.
“Survivors should not have to go to the media in order for the police to properly investigate their case.”
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
