Most under-age drink sale cases fizzle out

Published on Saturday 29 August 2009 11:29

FEWER than half of businesses charged with selling alcohol to under-18s end up in court.

Statistics released by the Scottish Government have revealed that of the 61 charges brought against pubs and shops in the past year in the Lothians, only 25 ended up with court proceedings. It is not clear what proportion resulted in convictions.

The news will come as a blow to the city's licensing committee, which has previously accused the justice system of "making a mockery" of the council's policies on harshly treating on-licence and off-licence traders that don't strictly enforce proof-of-age schemes.

Under new licensing laws that come into force on Tuesday, pubs will be required to tighten their own regulations further in terms of what ID is acceptable and how rigorously it is inspected.

However, that will not guarantee a rise in the proportion of cases that reach court.

Yesterday, the Evening News reported that under the new licensing rules, bar staff had been banned from asking if customers wanted the "same again" and had to offer a glass of water between alcoholic drinks.