A 31-year-old man who rudely threw hot coffee at 7-year-old Suman Dhital, a barista working at Soul Bowl cafe in Rosehill in western Sydney, has been charged.
CCTV footage posted to social media by the owner of the coffee shop showed the whole incident when a customer threw hot coffee at Suman last week.
Suman was left deeply shaken after an angry man, described by the NSW police as being of Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern appearance, threw two hot cups of coffees at him over a disagreement.
Lily Semaan, the owner of the cafe, told media that the customer had insisted to pay for a young woman’s coffee. However the young woman refused to accept this offer. She told 9News:
“Our staff member was respecting the young lady’s wishes because of that he was harassed, sworn at and abused. He grabbed the two coffees and aggressively threw them at him.”
In the CCTV footage, Suman could be seen refusing to accept the money and the customer began swearing and yelling at him.
The barista told 9News he has never experienced this kind of behaviour at this cafe before. He added:
“I was trying to make a good day with a coffee, but he was abusing me and swearing at me.”
Suman, who can be seen handling the situation very professionally, was left with burns to his face and hands after this rude attack.
Officers from Cumberland Police Area Command attended and were told that a 27-year-old employee allegedly had coffee thrown at him by a customer.
The middle-eastern looking customer fled before the police arrived and was last seen wearing a white and grey ‘Champion’ hooded jumper at the time.
As the NSW Police began investigation and appealed the public for information, the customer handed himself in to Granville Police Station at 6.30pm on Friday. He was issued a court attendance notice for common assault. He is due to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday 26 July.
