Abuse and faeces hurled at restaurant06 July 2005
By HAMISH STUART
Flying faeces, drunken threats and obnoxious behaviour have forced the Burger King restaurant to close its doors earlier on Saturday nights.
A gang of 20 children trying to drag a couch into the lobby of the Theodosia Street outlet was the last straw, manager Craig Stewart said.
But even though the doors are now locked at 11pm on Saturday nights, people still stand outside and hurl abuse, and worse, at staff.
He recalled an incident two weeks ago when someone threw a large ball of excrement on to the drive-thru wall.
"We didn't know if it was cow or human. But it stank.
"We have also had people trying to climb through the drive-in window or over the counter," Mr Stewart said.
The perpetrators were all ages, ranging from drunk adults to large groups of children as young as 13 and 14 years old.
"We have had groups of 30 kids hanging around outside abusing people. Unfortunately, for the police, we are not a high priority. I know if we are busy, then they're busy," he said.
He questioned whether parents knew what their children were doing when roaming the city streets at midnight on a Saturday.
"It seems to be the lack of consequences, because everybody's being so politically correct. Their hands are tied."
He said the main concern was for the safety of his staff and genuine customers, who felt physically threatened at times.
"We've had people walk out because of the situation."
Mr Stewart could not understand why people behaved like that and the trouble seemed to be getting worse.
"I'd love to know what makes them think they have the right to do it here. I bet they don't do it at home. It just doesn't need to happen," he said.
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