Under Age Drinking - The Pit Falls For The Licensee!

We are finding that it is becoming increasingly popular for prosecutions to be mounted where there has been a sale of alcohol to an under age person. This is particularly so in relation to Off-Licences. There has been a recent speight of test purchases, some mounted by Local Authorities, others by Police Forces.

It is an offence to knowingly sell intoxicating liquor to a person under 18 or knowingly allow a person under 18 to consume intoxicating liquor in a Bar (subject to an exception for those aged 16-17 if consuming cider or perry with a meal in a part of the premises usually set apart for the service of meals which is not a Bar).

The offence can be committed either by the Licence holder or their servant. This throws up an interesting potential defence. In a recent case, it was held that a non-Licensee employee of a Limited Company which operated an Off-Licence, could not be guilty of an offence because they were not the servant of the Licence holder (because the Licence holder did not employ the person who had sold the alcohol in question). The Licensee was not prosecuted as they did not effect the sale. The prosecution failed. This is a technical defence which we anticipate the government will seek to remove within the next few months. (Also note that separately revocation proceedings could be taken - see next page)

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