Denmark chef avoids prison after violent night at pub

A top Denmark chef who was previously jailed for supplying a commercial quantity of drugs while working as a chef in Sydney has avoided a prison sentence for a violent pub rampage in his new home town. In Albany Magistrate’s Court last Thursday, Grant Michael Richardson, 41, was placed on a 12-month intensive supervision order after pleading guilty to a string of charges related to a drunken night at the Denmark Hotel on July 16. The Ajar on Shadforth owner and head chef was also fined $1000. Prosecuting Sergeant Alan Dean told the court Richardson started throwing beer glasses on to the road outside the pub about 9.40pm. At one point, the Ajar on Shadforth owner pushed a male patron, who then knocked into a 50-year-old woman causing her to fall backwards and hit her head on concrete. The woman was taken to the Denmark Health Service, where she had a head laceration glued together. Richardson punched and smashed a glass sliding door in an attempt to get back into the pub after he was locked out following the assault, the court was told. When police found the 41-year-old soon after the attack, he started screaming and threatening the officers. He told police he was going to punch a female officer, and struggled with them as they put him in a police vehicle. The court was told Richardson had bought 11 shots of tequila for his friends but ended up consuming most of them himself. Last Thursday, Magistrate Robert Young said Richardson’s behaviour was “extremely concerning”. “You arrived in a small town and made an impact,” he said. “Police do a good job and deserve to be treated with respect. You’re far too old for this behaviour.” Richardson moved to Denmark in 2018 from New South Wales, where he worked in some of Sydney’s top restaurants. NSW court documents show Richardson was given two prison sentences of more than four years — to run concurrently — after he pleaded guilty in 2011 to supplying a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs and supplying drugs on an ongoing basis. In 2011, The Sunday Telegraph reported police had infiltrated Richardson’s part of a drug syndicate — operated from the Balcony Bar where he was executive chef — after an undercover officer befriended an alleged drug runner. The Telegraph reported Richardson “allegedly supplied shopping bags full of ecstasy from his kitchen”. If Richardson reoffends or does not comply with the intensive supervision order handed down last week, he will be ordered back to court for re-sentencing.