Buying alcohol with a teenager in tow.

[999tigger]

Its an offence by the person doing the buying and also for the shop/ person doing the selling. It would also crop up when their licence came up for renewal.

[Gazza58]

Ah, so it's the "on behalf of" that's the offence? Still, if the cashier asks the buyer, and the buyer tells them they are not buying "on behalf of" the child, then they've done their duty haven't they? I would have thought that it would be virtually impossible to be prosecuted for this offence if the shop has acted reasonably.

 

---------- Post added 31-12-2013 at 14:45 ----------

 

 

How silly! So she "suspected", and you put her right. Therefore she'd done her bit. Did you ask the manager if they were accusing you of being a liar (which is what they were doing!)?

No,but i should have because you are right,they were accusing me of that.

[999tigger]

[/b]

No,but i should have because you are right,they were accusing me of that.

 

No they werent, they just didnt want to take the risk, which is company policy. They dont care about you, but they do care about being fined or losing their licence.

[kidley]

Here are facts and the law

 

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/alcohol-and-the-law/buying-alcohol

[Gazza58]

No they werent, they just didnt want to take the risk, which is company policy. They dont care about you, but they do care about being fined or losing their licence.

 

Well they obviously didnt think i was telling the truth then.

[Olive]

Its an offence by the person doing the buying and also for the shop/ person doing the selling. It would also crop up when their licence came up for renewal.

 

But it seems to be an offence that's impossible to police or prove, and the measures being employed to try and do so are futile.

 

Say I pop down to Asda to get some drink in for this evening, the cashier could accuse me of buying this for the (non-existent) kids at home. They could "suspect" anyone of anything, but what's the point. When would they ACTUALLY be prosecuted?

 

By the way, the time to be suspicious isn't when someone's shopping in the company of kids, it's when the under 18s are hiding round the corner, waiting for the person they've duped into buying a bottle of taboo for them to come out with the booty! Cough. Never did that. Honest....

 

---------- Post added 31-12-2013 at 15:06 ----------

 

Here are facts and the law

 

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/check-the-facts/alcohol-and-the-law/buying-alcohol

 

Thanks for this link Kidley. It looks to me like the shops are misinterpreting their responsibility. It's illegal for them to sell to someone under 18, nothing else. It's illegal to buy "on behalf of" someone under 18, but that's the responsibility of the purchaser.

 

From your link: It's illegal:

•to sell alcohol to someone under 18 anywhere, and can lead to a maximum fine of £10,000 for bar staff/managers or premises being shut down.

•for an adult to buy or attempt to buy alcohol on behalf of someone under 18.

•for someone under 18 to buy alcohol, attempt to buy alcohol or to be sold alcohol.

[999tigger]

They do checks by sending in undercover shoppers. In the OPs case very hard to tell, but as it is at the discretion of the shop on whether to sell then if theres a possible risk, then for commercial reasons they are old to decline due to company policy. Simply not worth it for them to take the risk.

 

If you pop down to Asda on your own, then I doubt youd be refused. In the OPs case he had a child with him.

 

The time to check is at the point of sale.

[Gazza58]

They do checks by sending in undercover shoppers. In the OPs case very hard to tell, but as it is at the discretion of the shop on whether to sell then if theres a possible risk, then for commercial reasons they are old to decline due to company policy. Simply not worth it for them to take the risk.

 

If you pop down to Asda on your own, then I doubt youd be refused. In the OPs case he had a child with him.

 

The time to check is at the point of sale.

 

Funny enough i went there afterwards[with my daughter]and had no problem.

[Olive]

They do checks by sending in undercover shoppers. In the OPs case very hard to tell, but as it is at the discretion of the shop on whether to sell then if theres a possible risk, then for commercial reasons they are old to decline due to company policy. Simply not worth it for them to take the risk.

 

If you pop down to Asda on your own, then I doubt youd be refused. In the OPs case he had a child with him.

 

The time to check is at the point of sale.

 

Possible risk of what though? If you read the Drinkaware link, the shop's only breaking the law if the sell to an under 18, they'd be breaking no law even if they suspected the drink was for an underage person, as long as it wasn't bought by them.

[999tigger]

Risk that the adult was buying it on behalf of the child. If it was a trading standards test, then that would be raised at the time it came to renew the licence, hence the blanket policy. This is separate from any liability for specific offences. Supermarkets dont have the time or interest to chase everyone up so they ask for id, if you cant prove it then they are told to refuse. Losing the odd sale doesnt make it worthwhile when compared to the loss of losing a licence.