The owners of Ossington live music venue the Painted Lady are facing the outrage of some members of the local music community for not ejecting two men from the bar after a complaint that the men had allegedly spiked two female patrons’ drinks.
The women told bar staff they thought they’d seen the men slip drugs into the drinks, and management brought in security to approach the men, who denied the accusations. The men then drank the drinks themselves and were allowed to remain in the bar. The women left shortly after.
In a statement released Sunday, September 25, the Painted Lady’s owners, Nicky Potter and Sam Papatragiannis, said, “In this case, we had no proof that any bad actions had been committed or intended and so no grounds to call the police or kick these men out. To the best of our knowledge, and according to the women themselves, they did not drink the beers and were not drugged.”
The owners acknowledged that “different bodies metabolize different drugs at different rates,” and stressed that they take “every possible precaution to prevent – and take action – when this most serious of all criminal drug offences is alleged.”
They’ve offered to meet with the women involved, and with bar management, security staff and the police, as well as anyone else concerned about the issue, and expressed hurt and sadness about being “viewed as the kind of people we have stood against for so long.”
Angry comments on Twitter and Facebook have been flying since the weekend, with several members of the local music scene, like Alysha Haugen of Sheezer and By Divine Right, posting them publicly in the comments section of the Painted Lady’s Facebook page.
Update: One of the two women, Kayla (last name withheld by request), reached out to NOW by email with her version of the story, which goes as follows:
“My friend and I saw the men put something (a pill) in our drinks. I told the bartender, who then went outside with me to talk to security. We all came back inside. My friend was sitting right by [the two men] still, waiting for me to come back. I went up and grabbed her, without anyone from the bar coming with me. (She was sitting by the men to try to lower the suspicion of me leaving immediately, so there wouldn’t be any further threat until we could get some kind of support.) My friend and I went closer to the bar/exit, where I told them the men were now drinking the drinks. I pointed them out and they said they would keep an eye on them. My friend and I left shortly after, feeling not safe as it was apparent these men knew what we were doing.”
Kayla clarifies that in contrast to the Painted Lady’s statement, “there was no management involved, just the bartender and security. The men were not approached, and therefore couldn’t deny anything.”
Kayla also says that she has been in direct contact with the Painted Lady’s owners but that there was no offer to meet during that conversation, although she did see it posted publicly. She says, “This was not followed up with any further conversation, save for an apology and information on their plans for training in the future.”
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