Licensees Message to Under 18s

By Michael Kheng FBII – Kurnia Licensing Consultants – December 2006

www.kurnia.co.uk

The law states that a person under the age of 18 can never purchase alcohol. There are no expectations to this rule an under 18 simply cannot purchase alcohol. Most premises now operate a ‘Challenge 21’ policy which means that anyone who appears to be 21 or under is asked for ID and the only ID that will be accepted is a photo drivers licence, passport or photo ID card that bears the PASS logo. In most establishments if a fake ID is spotted it will be retained and handed to the police.

Michael Kheng, director of Kurnia Licensing Consultants, who operates a number of bars in Lincoln, Louth and Mablethorpe said that recently they nearly called last orders on a private function when a parent purchased alcohol for their 15 year old child. A staff member was alerted when a round of drinks was purchased and there was not a soft drink for the child. When the group returned to their table the parent was very happy to give the child the alcohol to drink. The management intervened and informed the party that if they caught anyone under the age of 18 consuming alcohol then the bar would close.

Parents and friends must be aware that if they attempt to purchase alcohol for a person under the age of 18 then they are committing a criminal offence to which the maximum fine is £5,000. If a person under 18 is caught consuming alcohol on licensed premises then they can face a fine of up to £1,000.

The only times that a person under 18 may consume alcohol is if they are 16 or 17 where they may consume, note consume and not purchase, beer, wine and cider with a table meal so long as a person aged 18 or over purchases the drink and that they also are having a table meal. A person under the age of 18 can never purchase alcohol. In the case of a restaurant or pub where there is a restaurant area a person under 16 can never consume alcohol.