14. May 2010 09:38
A 17 year old girl has been arrested for using a false id to buy alcohol in a bar in Chelmsford, Essex. The arrest follows the launch of a Home Office poster campaign earlier in the year targeting underage drinkers and makes use of the 2006 Fraud Act. It is thought to be the first time that it has been used for this purpose.
It’s rare to see the underage person who has attempted to buy alcohol punished like this. It has been so much easier to target the licensee who has sold the alcohol and punish them and their business for the actions of one person.
Just last week I studied the CitizenCard photo of five young people (see below) to try and guess which one was underage. I can’t tell you which ones are because they form part of the questions in the new Age Verification course, a joint venture between CPL and CitizenCard. Suffice to say, I got it completely wrong.
This, of course is what licensees have to deal with everyday so due diligence is order of the day with staff training, systems and an underage prevention policy. All this and more is available through the Age Verification course through our E-Learning website very soon with an accompanying handbook.
I doubt that the young lady’s arrest for fraud by false representation marks a substantial change in the enforcement of this issue but it’s good to see some balance occasionally.
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