A Sydney club has been caught allowing a toddler to access its gambling area and play with a pokie machine.
Shocking vision from the club's CCTV cameras show the grandfather of the child sitting it in front of a pokie machine and watching on as it plays with its buttons and levers.
Though no money was inserted into the machine during the incident, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to even have access to gaming rooms at licensed venues in New South Wales.
The Mounties club in Mt Pritchard was fined $NZ6295 after an investigation by Liquor & Gaming NSW uncovered the footage which showed the toddler at the machine for just under two minutes.
However, the group that owns the club is set to appeal the decision after earlier pleading not guilty to a charge of breaching gaming laws that ban minors from being inside gaming areas at licensed venues.
"Mounties Group is incredibly disappointed with the outcome and will be appealing this decision," Chief Executive Officer Dale Hunt said in a statement.
"In our opinion, the Magistrate's decision came down to a discrepancy in legal definition, rather than an intentional breach of the law."
In 2018, Mounties Group turned over more than $NZ109 million in revenue from pokie machines.
Newshub.
