New criminal provisions relating to under age alcohol sales could be ruinous for unwary licence holders, say Mark Conway and Natalie Ledgard
On 6 April 2007 the new offence of persistently selling alcohol to children came into effect through the Licensing Act 2003 (LA 2003), s 147A, following amendment by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 (VCRA 2006), s 23.
Section 147A is detailed, but at the heart of the offence is the concept of “persistent selling”, defined as the unlawful sale of alcohol on three different occasions within three consecutive months, on the same premises, to a person aged under 18.
The other elements of the offence are:
- The premises from which each sale is made must be either licensed premises or premises authorised to be used for a permitted temporary activity.
- The offence can be committed only by a responsible person, defined as either the premises licence holder or the person who is the premises user in relation to a permitted temporary activity (LA 2003, s 147A(4)).
THE PENALTY
The maximum fine is £10,000—as against £5,000 for a one-off sale—but the potentially
