Johnsonville Rugby Football Club member Jason Tuitama had a breath alcohol reading almost four times the legal limit when he hit Casidhe Maguire. Photo: RNZ / Ashleigh McCaull
A Wellington rugby club has lost permission to sell alcohol after a member left the club's bar, drove drunk and killed a woman.
The Wellington District Licensing Committee has declined the Johnsonville Rugby Football Club's application to renew its liquor licence.
Releasing its written decision on Tuesday, the committee said the club's last day to sell alcohol was 4 June.
Club member Jason Tuitama, 24, had a breath alcohol reading almost four times the legal limit when he hit 28-year-old Casidhe Maguire as she crossed the road in June 2023.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Maguire's father Paul Maguire objected to the club renewing its licence.
He said it provided excessive alcohol to Tuitama, did not ask him to leave when he became very drunk, and did not encourage him to take safe transport home.
The club was established in 1900 and had about 500 members. It had held a licence to sell alcohol since at least 1980.
It told the licensing committee that club members established Tutiama had a safe form of transport home that night.
The club accepted Tuitama got drunk on its premises and then drove, "resulting in the terrible death of Ms Maguire", but said its failure to stop Tuitama getting drunk, rather than the consequence, should determine whether the application could be granted.
Chief licensing inspector Jude Austin said that the club did not have appropriate systems, staff or training to comply with the law.
"There was a significant failure on the part of the duty manager and staff to observe and manage intoxication on the night of the incident and this led to alcohol related harm."
The inspector said intoxicated people were allowed to remain on the premises, and the club had failed to manage visiting teams and a history of allowing unsupervised consumption of alcohol outside the licensed area of the premises.
She said there was no evidence that the club had trained staff to deal with drunk customers since the night Maguire died.
The committee did not accept the statements by the witnesses for the club that Tuitama did not show any signs of intoxication during the night and said it was extremely concerning that bar staff did not see that Tuitama was very drunk.
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