Buying Booze

[MacB]

Yebbut, it's still only wine...

Yebbut, wasn't it water first?

 

[DougieAB]

I recently asked my wife to buy a bottle of Gin from Asda as I was making Sloe Gin. She came home with the Gin and big smile on her face as she had been asked for ID, she will be 45 in January!

 

[Bad Company]

Idiotic. So if your son walks off you cease to be "in a group"? How are they going to know if you have a teenager waiting in the car or or behind the checkout? This type of crap usually emerges after an incident and the "something must be done" brigade likes to make themselves feel useful. If anything it simply encourages parents to be less responsible with their children in order to get around this.

I have similar issues with the stupid government laws on medicine. I stock up on aspirin, paracetamol ibuprofen etc. when in the UK. I can buy 1 pack of 16 of each at a time, which simply means I end up walking through the checkout 20 times.

Presumably as I'm only saving a few tens of pounds, someone suitably determined enough to commit suicide this way would have figured this out.

I kind of hoped the death of the previous government and their bizarre distrust of the public would have put an end to this type of nonsense, sadly not.

Spot on. I'm still not clear of the supermarket's policies are. Is not selling booze to a 'group' where one is under age a general or local policy. What exactly is the policy?

 

[Bman]

We did the same as GuitarPete. Eldest looking went into the offie to buy our White Lightning while we waited around the corner.

Once we did a big beer/cider run where we filled a whole trolley, same 6 foot friend went in to buy it, we pushed it all back to the train station, loaded the tolley full of beer/cider onto the train back to a nearby town and pushed the trolly round all night getting drunk

Good times!

 

[marinyork]

Spot on. I'm still not clear of the supermarket's policies are. Is not selling booze to a 'group' where one is under age a general or local policy. What exactly is the policy?

Trading standards produce guidance for many councils that are then passed onto retailers. Several of these are available on-line and cover the area of 'proxy sales'. If you read some of them some people would find them actually quite funny, idiotic or wonder why there seems to be such a gulf between the law and practice in places like certain stores selling.

Here is the absolute gem produced for Milton Keynes http://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/trading-standards/documents/Trader_Advice_Pack.pdf

You can quite clearly read what the Law says in the Licensing Act 2003, sections 145 - 154. If you actually read it you will notice some quite subtle differences between what the law says and what retailers/trading standards say.

 

[srw]

You can quite clearly read what the Law says in the Licensing Act 2003, sections 145 - 154. If you actually read it you will notice some quite subtle differences between what the law says and what retailers/trading standards say.

Bugger the subtle differences, just read the completely illiterate "English":

To protect young people and the community from their harmful affects. Effective under-age sales prevention can help make Milton Keynes safer and more secure for all, maximise wellbeing and enhance our quality of place. Research has shown that the longer young people are prevented from starting a habit the better their chance of not becoming addicted in later life.
In Milton Keynes, working Thames Valley Police and Milton Keynes PCT we have been successful in reducing under-age sales. The number of sales to our young volunteers on test purchase exercises continually falls.

Two paragraphs, 5 sentences (one incomplete), one spelling error, one missing word, full of management bullshit. Complete junk. If I were a retailer and received that it would last about 2 minutes.

 

[cd365]

and the UK !

There is no defence of entrapment in English law (R v Sang [1980] AC 402).

 

[Mad at urage]

It may be full of management bull and poorly edited, but this:

What Is A Proxy Sale
As many members of staff employed by businesses live locally within the community to where the shop is situated, it is important they are aware of the activity of “Proxy Sales” which is basically when third parties adults attempt to purchase age restricted products such as Alcohol, Cigarettes, DVD’s, Fireworks, etc on behalf of an underage person. Such attempts to purchase these products can be spotted and recognised by responsible employees.
Some Easy Ways To Spot Proxy Sales
•
Being aware of groups of youth congregating outside the store approaching members of the public who enter the store.
•
If members of the public who might have been approached, ask for the same alcohol product, etc which you have just refused to sell to an underage person.
•
If the adult pays separately for the product and keeps the change separate.
•
If the age restricted product is kept separate from their other shopping.
•
If you know your local community and your customers, and the purchase of such an alcoholic product is totally out of character, remind them that it is an offence to “proxy” purchase.
•
If the adult re-enters the store just to buy alcohol after they have left.
•
Remember, feel empowered you do not have to sell anything to anyone if you are in doubt.
Such Best Practice procedures should be adopted for all age restricted products, however at present it is only an offence for an alcohol proxy sale. Section 149 of the Licensing Act 2003 makes it an offence for a person to purchase or attempt to purchase alcohol for a child, as where a child gives money to an adult to buy alcohol in an off licence for consumption by the child.
Who Is Responsible For The Sale?
The person making or attempting to make the purchase (unless by the parent or legal guardian for responsible consumption within the home). As many employees have children just consider how would you feel if a stranger provided your son or daughter with alcohol?

Says nothing about refusing to sell to family groups if a minor is present - in fact quite the opposite (highlighted text). Supermarket at fault, not TS advice I suspect

 

[snorri]

She came home with the Gin and big smile on her face as she had been asked for ID, she will be 45 in January!

This thread is useless without pictures.

 

[Davidc]

I saw a couple plus 2 children walk out of Morrisons over exactly this a couple of months back. (I was at the next till buying 4 pints of milk - surprised the store didn't want ID for that).

They left a trolley and part packed bags with at least £100 worth of shopping, a queue, and a very loud promise never to shop at Morrisons again. They left shouting out to all present that Morrisons don't want families to shop there so would all families please leave immediately.

They were probably committing a number of public order offences but I certainly had sympathy. The way the alcohol laws are now being interpreted is idiotic and irrational.

 

[summerdays]

I have similar issues with the stupid government laws on medicine. I stock up on aspirin, paracetamol ibuprofen etc. when in the UK. I can buy 1 pack of 16 of each at a time, which simply means I end up walking through the checkout 20 times.

Presumably as I'm only saving a few tens of pounds, someone suitably determined enough to commit suicide this way would have figured this out.

When swine flu was doing the rounds we were advised to make sure we had medicine, so I went to Tesco's to make sure we had some. Tried to buy some adult paracetamol and Calpol together and was told that I couldn't because I might use it to commit suicide. I'm not sure exactly how much Calpol I would need to take but I assume more than the one bottle! And if I was desperate I assume I would do what everyone does now and just make several trips to different shops.