Thirty-year-old cage fighter Emmanouil Ntaras, a Greek national in the process of applying for permanent residency to Australia, has been granted bail after being charged with a vicious assault on a patron of the Ivy Club in Sydney last weekend.
Ntaras’ bail conditions prevent him from working in the security industry or contacting staff at the club. Three other bouncers, including the club’s security supervisor, have also been charged and granted bail.
Police allege that when they were called to an assault at one of Sydney’s most popular nightclubs last weekend, officers were “deliberately diverted” away by security, while a teenager was being bashed in the premises, according to court documents.
Police allege that after pinning him to the ground, punching and kicking him, and then stuffing a fluorescent vest in his mouth and tying it around his head, security guards took Nicholas Barsoum, 19, to the basement where he was further assaulted.
“When police initially arrived, they were diverted away down Ash Street by security, stating that the offenders had run away,” the court documents state.
A cleaner, allegedly shown on CCTV cleaning the blood-spattered basement immediately after the assault, was told not to talk to police, the documents say, a claim the club’s management has denied.
Owner of the club, Justin Hemmes, said in a statement that he was appalled and sickened by the alleged assault, that the security staff in question have been dismissed, and that a full review of security operations would be undertaken.
