Charcoal Restaurant owner hits back after fine for breaching coronavirus restrictions

On Wednesday afternoon, ACT Policing said it had slapped a Canberra restaurant with a $5000 fine for "brazenly flouting the restrictions" after repeated warnings.

The fine is the first issued in the territory for breaches of coronavirus rules.

Police refused to name the venue, but said officers had found 20 diners there last Friday night at a time when only 12 patrons were allowed under social distancing occupancy limits.

"The majority of people and businesses are doing the right thing despite the disruption to everyday life," Detective Superintendent Jason Kennedy said.

"With everyone doing it tough, it's so disappointing when we see a business putting the broader community at risk by brazenly flouting the restrictions.

"ACT Policing and the ACT government had engaged with this business on a number of occasions to help support it meet the health directions, but our advice was not being listened to or actioned."

The Canberra Times has confirmed that the business in question is Charcoal Restaurant in Civic.

The restaurant owner, Anna Gray, disputed claims that there had been prior warnings and accused police of intimidating and harassing her staff when officers attended last Friday night.

Ms Gray said it had been expected that up to 25 diners would be allowed on that night, and bookings had been made in advance with that in mind.

She said that when an easing of COVID-19 restrictions was delayed, her staff contacted customers to cancel bookings so that only 12 patrons would be at the restaurant at any one time.

But the staff could not reach some people, and 20 turned up last Friday night.

"We couldn't get in touch with them all and we couldn't throw them out, so we just spaced them out," Ms Gray said.

She said police came to the business shortly before 9pm last Friday.

But she claimed officers only dealt with staff and did not make contact with her until Tuesday, before telling her on Wednesday that the restaurant would be fined in what she described as a "vindictive" move.

Ms Gray told The Canberra Times that a young waitress was now scared to come to work after being called to the police station at almost midnight to make a statement.

"They really intimidated and harassed my staff," Ms Gray said of police.

"They're not helping [small businesses] to recover. They're just bashing businesses.

"We had a legitimate explanation and [a police officer] just didn't want to listen."

Ms Gray said the restaurant, which opened nearly 60 years ago, could be on the verge of closure because of the impact of COVID-19.

"Hospitality is going down the gutter," she said. "I can't survive on 12 customers."

Ms Gray said she had spoken to lawyers on Wednesday about contesting the $5000 fine.

"I'm going to dispute it," she said.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the ACT government had spent a long time working with businesses to make sure everyone understood the rules.

"Really, by this point, people don't have any excuse for not understanding what those rules are," she said.

"We were very clear ... if people deliberately breached or had multiple breaches of the rules that police would start taking enforcement action."

Small venues were told they would be able to have a maximum of 25 patrons from July 10, when the ACT was due to move to stage three of restrictions.

However, this was put on hold as coronavirus outbreaks in Victoria escalated.

The fine issued to Charcoal Restaurant comes after police last week charged 41-year-old Simeon Cassar with breaching COVID-19 restrictions by allegedly entering the ACT without the required exemption after travelling from Victoria.

Mr Cassar, who was released on bail on Monday, is yet to enter a plea and faces a fine of $8000 if convicted.