Business information

Hemel Licensee fined for under age sales of alcohol

The licensee of the Nisa Local in Dickinson Quay at Apsley Lock, has been fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £1082 for selling alcohol to an underage customer.

Mr Jitendra Bhatti, who is the co-owner and Designated Premises Supervisor for the store, was found Guilty of the offence at Hemel Hempstead Magistrates Court on April 27. The court heard that his niece, who was working at the store, sold alcohol to a 16-year-old test purchaser on June 1, 2006.

Mr Bhatti claimed that his niece was being supervised by another member of staff at the time of the offence but CCTV evidence presented to the court showed that she made the sale on her own and without guidance.

Hertfordshire Trading Standards brought the prosecution following a test purchasing campaign carried out with the help of the police and underage volunteers in May and June 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 six months after the introduction of the new Licensing Act.

While Mr Bhatti and his staff kept a refusals register, which was presented in court, this did not always record refusals as they happened. During cross-examination Mr Bhatti admitted that he had added dates to it and made other changes to it several months after the refusals had allegedly taken place.

Mr Bhatti admitted that only 50 per cent of his business at Nisa Local was being run diligently and the Magistrates agreed that he must therefore take full responsibility for the offence. The court heard that he had corrected the premises licence by registering himself as the Designated Premises Supervisor after the test purchase in June 2006.

"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."

Chief Inspector Paul Newell of Hertfordshire Constabulary said: "This case is a warning to all licensees in Dacorum who think they are above the law and sell alcohol to underage customers. The Police will continue to work in partnership with Trading Standards and take irresponsible licensees to court."

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

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