Drink Talking: Shamus Lehal
Shop owners and publicans alike could face a hefty fine for serving alcohol to under 18s, as Shamus Lehal, who runs the Londis outlet in Wootton, Bedfordshire found out.
After 14 years of trading as a Londis retailer my shop was targeted in a test purchasing sting - in the government's summer blitz on underage sales.
Three girls were sent in and served alcopops and a bottle of vodka by a member of staff. The trading standards officers then appeared, informing my wife that we had broken the law and could be prosecuted and possibly lose our licence.
The above nightmare scenario could be repeated in any pub or shop in England and Wales over the next few weeks.
Is test purchasing fair? Well, it can be, but we move onto dangerous ground when all-powerful bodies such as trading standards departments become judge, jury and executioner. Test purchasing is fine, but when does it cross the line and become entrapment?
Unfortunately, trading standards is in the lucky position of having two codes of conduct, an informal and a formal one. In the informal one, children can be used and dressed up to look like young adults - wearing make-up, jewellery and adult clothing. In my case it was an informal test purchase, where the children were made to look over 18. I was not charged.
The best way for pubs and shops to safeguard themselves is to train staff to ask anyone that looks under 21 for ID and have "No ID No sale" notices prominently displayed. Even this is not fail-safe. I'm sure pubs will have extra staff on at Christmas, and although the person serving can be prosecuted for an underage sale, this is seldom the reality of our justice system.
I am fearful that many innocent shops and pubs will fail the Christmas blitz for the simple reason that it is the busiest time of the year for us.
The government should be doing more to help us, rather then coming up with knee-jerk reactions which are not helpful to anyone other than statisticians. Anyone can fail a test that is open to human judgment and error.
