Student beaten up by waiter for not paying in protest at not receiving receipt
A 20-year-old student in Komotini in northern Greece was transferred to an Athens hospital on Tuesday to undergo surgery for a broken jaw after being assaulted by a nightclub waiter on the weekend because he and his friends decided to leave the establishment without paying for their drinks because they had not been issued a receipt.
According to a recent law meant to clamp down on VAT dodgers, customers can refuse to pay for goods and services if they are not issued a proper receipt for the full value of their purchases.
The 20-year-old student told local media that they had repeatedly asked their waiter at a popular nightclub for a receipt after ordering two rounds of drinks and that they waited for a reasonable amount of time before deciding to walk out of the establishment.
Yiannis Gerekos, a third-year sport science student from Corfu, told local media that he was attacked from behind by the waiter as he and his friends walked across the main square of Komotini several minutes after leaving the nightclub. He said that he heard someone yell at him and was punched in the face as he turned around.
Witnesses of the assault said that the waiter also kicked him several times after he collapsed on the ground.
Gerekos’s mother said that her family will be suing the waiter and the nightclub’s management over the alleged assault.
