Life in Wimbledon: Locals reject pub owner’s claim their village is ‘evil’

But locals spoken to, some of them anonymously, say Gathercole’s behaviour rubbed people the wrong way long before he told a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter this week he believed the community was “evil” and had “turned against” him. Riddell says she felt intimidated at the time by the gang’s presence in the community and offended that Gathercole then “blamed” locals for his decision to invite them by publicly stating that he’d done it because he wasn’t making enough money from them. Herbertville Inn publican John Sedcole declined to comment for this story, but locals spoken to by Hawke’s Bay Today say it is doing well and is now the place to be on the weekend.

Author: Chris Hyde

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