Business information

Bushey Licensee fined for under age sales of alcohol

The licensee of Bushey News in High Road, Bushey, has been fined £250 and ordered to pay costs of £150 for selling alcohol to an underage customer.

Mr Rajakariyar Sridaran, who is the owner and Designated Premises Supervisor (licensee) for the store, pleaded Guilty to the offence at Hemel Hempstead Magistrates Court on April 27. The court heard that one of his employees at the store sold alcohol to a 15-year-old test purchaser on November 20, 2006.

Hertfordshire Trading Standards brought the prosecution following a test purchasing campaign carried out with the help of the police and underage volunteers last year. The operation targeted premises where problems involving young people buying alcohol had been reported. It was carried out as part of the Home Office Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign and came twelve months after the introduction of the new Licensing Act.

The Magistrates accepted that Mr Sridaran had instructed his staff not to sell alcohol to under-18s but considered that he had not done enough to prevent the sale.

"Given the ongoing publicity concerning the penalties for this kind of offence, there can be no excuse for licensees selling alcohol to underage customers," said Executive Member for Community Safety and Culture, Keith Emsall. "So, yet again, we must warn retailers that our officers will continue to target shops and off-licences again in the near future and we will continue to take a hard line against those who break the law in this way.

"Using underage volunteers in this way has proved extremely effective in bringing to book those traders who are selling alcohol illegally. Alcohol abuse among youngsters is a serious problem which we are striving to reduce, not least by trying to make retailers aware of their legal responsibilities."

Inspector David Rankin, the local Neighbourhood Inspector said: "We receive regular complaints about anti social behaviour caused by youths who have consumed alcohol and in addition to dealing directly with the individuals we target the source of the problem. In these joint operations with Hertfordshire Trading Standards we aim to cut off the supply of alcohol that is fuelling this nuisance within our communities. Those carrying on a business selling alcohol need to do so responsibly and if they do not we will take action, that action may include an application for review of the licence should there be a repeat of under age sales."

The police and Trading Standards are also warning that repeat and persistent offenders may have their licences reviewed and possibly revoked using new powers under the Licensing Act.

* For information and advice about consumer issues contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and 1pm Saturday (excluding bank and public holidays) or visit www.consumerdirect.gov.uk Calls are charged at no more than four pence per minute from a BT landline. Call charges from other landline providers or mobile phones may vary. Please check the rate with your phone service provider.