Friday, September 12, 2008

RCMP charge bartender with manslaughter for over-serving

Globe and Mail Update September 12, 2008

RCMP announced Friday that criminal charges have been laid against an Alberta tavern, its owner and a bartender in connection with the death of a 22-year-old patron who was allegedly over-served when she was already drunk. According to relatives, Tammy Kobylka was drinking shooters on Oct. 6, 2007 at Skip's Bar in Calmar, southwest of Edmonton, before somehow making it home. She was pronounced dead the next day of “acute ethanol toxicity,” better known as alcohol poisoning. Bar operator SBH Enterprises Inc., owner Brian Cameron Bromley, 61, and bartender Derek Allen Tithecott, 33, each face a charge of criminal negligence causing death, the Mounties said. Mr. Tithecott is also charged with manslaughter. They are scheduled to appear in Leduc provincial court on Sept. 18.

In March, the establishment was charged with an over-service offence under Alberta's Gaming and Liquor Act, infractions that could have meant a maximum fine of $200,000, a licence suspension or loss of a liquor permit. It was believed to be the first time an establishment was charged under that section of the act. However, a short time later, the Crown prosecutor's office recommended the charge be withdrawn, but no reasons were given.Family members said the autopsy showed that Ms. Kobylka had a blood-alcohol level that was five times over the legal limit for driving. They also allege that she was passing out at the bar.

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