Rawene Masonic Hotel dumps pokies after woman leaves baby outside

  • 28/05/2018

A hotel in the Far North will get rid of its pokie machines after a woman left her baby outside while she gambled.

Glen Dick, owner of the Rawene Masonic Hotel, told The AM Show that the young woman is a regular at their gambling facilities.

Soon after she walked in last week, Mr Dick heard what sounded like a child crying outside the building. When he went to investigate he found a toddler alone in a baby capsule on the footpath.

"I brought her inside, popped into the game room and asked 'does anyone own this baby?', and this young girl said 'she's mine'.

"I looked at her in disgust and said 'you can't be doing this', and basically asked her to leave and take her baby home."

Mr Dick says when he and his partner took over the hotel in December 2017, they wanted to create a friendly environment where families could enjoy themselves.

As a result of the troubling incident, he will get rid of every pokie machine in the hotel at quite a cost to the business.

"We could potentially lose up to $1000 a week."

In a post to their official Facebook page, the Rawene Masonic Hotel said Northland's high unemployment rate was a factor in their decision to ban gambling in the venue.

"If these gaming machines can influence people to this kind of behaviour, then we want nothing to do with it and we hope that we have the support from our community with our decision."

Newshub.