Barmaid wins underage sting appeal

A barmaid has successfully contested her £80 fine for failing an underage sting operation after magistrates agreed the test purchaser looked older than she was.

JPs were shown photos of the girl and boy used in the sting during the hearing at Darling Magistrates Court.

Barmaid Adele Keenlayside appealed her penalty notice, issued after she served the teenagers during a test purchase operation at the Green Tree, Bishop Auxland, on 10 May. It's the third sting that the pub had failed within eight months.

The appeal was on the grounds that any reasonable person would believe the test purchasers were at least 18.

Geoff Proud, Punch lessee of the Green Tree, said the children in question appeared to be 5'11" and looked much older than they were.

He added: "I think if you send kids in to pubs they should look like kids."

PC Anne-Marie Gray said: "We will obviously study the outcome of today's hearing but at this stage we have no plans to change the way we operate."

She was "disappointed" by the decision, arguing that operations are carried out under "strict guidelines".

Test purchasers don't dress "in a manner which would deliberately make them out to be older than they are", she said, and the boy who bought the drinks on this sting had been served just three times out of 23.

"That would suggest the vast majority of licensees in our area are diligent in terms of observing the law and challenging for proof of age if they have any doubts."