'Layback' Sally defends Claremont

by Natalia Machado

April 15, 2008

A WOMAN pictured in the Sunday Times recently, sculling shooters while laying back on the bar at the Claremont Hotel, claims furore over the practice is nothing more than media hype.

“It wasn’t a promotion of binge drinking,” said Sally (real name withheld) pictured above. “None of us were heavily intoxicated.

“We were celebrating a friend’s return to Perth on a quiet Wednesday night, having a few fun drinks with the girls at a bar where we happen to know the staff. There was hardly anyone at the Claremont, so we ran amuck and had some laybacks.”

Sally dubbed the so-called ‘laybacks’ a novelty.

“They are a flamboyant way to have a shot, and shots aren’t illegal,” she reasoned. “We consumed ‘cowboys’ which are relatively low in alcohol content, through laybacks, and we didn’t consume more than a standard shot.

“We weren’t harming anyone nor did we harm ourselves.”

The Claremont has come under the gaze of alcohol awareness groups since photos emerged of pub co-owner, Craig Hutchinson, pouring laybacks to Sally’s party on Wednesday, April 2.

This week, Eleanor Costello from the government’s Drug and Alcohol Office slammed laybacks.

“There are two issues raised in this scenario,” she said. “Firstly, from a cultural perspective, this incident complements Australia’s prevalent alcohol culture, this incident being particularly disturbing because somebody in a position of authority is perpetrating these grossly irresponsible acts, and this could be seen to influence younger people on how alcohol should be consumed.

“The [second] safety issue raised is that the perpetrator of these acts is in fact the licensee for the venue [who] should be setting an example for his workers and serving alcohol responsibly.”