'Very sorry': Dunedin bar shuts down after drunk punter locked inside overnight

A Dunedin live music venue has suddenly shut its doors this month after an “extremely intoxicated” customer was accidentally locked inside overnight.

DropKicks on Great King Street is no longer in business after its owner and Femme Enterprises Limited operator, Rebecca Ellis, who also owns Dunedin event hot spot Errick’s, surrendered both of her venues’ liquor licences.

The decision was made following a district licensing committee hearing earlier this month.

DropKicks aimed to provide “a safe space for all to enjoy great quality entertainment”, but the recent incident raised serious concerns.

According to RNZ, the committee report revealed a customer was left locked inside the venue on April 3, after staff failed to properly check the venue before leaving for the night.

The person, who was reportedly “extremely intoxicated” inside a toilet stall, later called friends for help and was taken to the hospital after police were alerted of the incident.

The venue had been granted a temporary licence to serve alcohol back in February.

Speaking to the Otago Daily Times last week, Ellis said she could not “in good conscience” continue operating and confirmed both venues would close “effective immediately”.

She described the incident as a “critical failure of safety and responsibility” that could have had “serious or even fatal consequences”.

I accept full responsibility for this failure, and fully apologise to the person involved, and to everyone in our community.

Ellis added that creating spaces where live performers could thrive had been her “life-long dream”, and having to close both venues is “the lowest point” of her life.

In a following social media post from DropKicks, the venue apologised and informed customers about its future.

“DropKicks [is] unfortunately no longer going ahead,” the post began. 

“Due to recent events, we no longer have a liquor licence. We are very sorry for the impact this has on people with upcoming bookings and people who love DropKicks.”

No announcement has been made via Femme Enterprises' second Dunedin event venue, Errick’s, as of yet.