Buying booze too easy

EXHIBIT ‘A’ for alcohol: Sergeant Evan Davidson tags evidence from Operation Waipa 18. 192061AD

By Dean Taylor

Police and council liquor licensing staff are deeply disappointed volunteer teenagers were able to illegally purchase alcohol from more than half the outlets they visited.

Operation Waipa 18 was a joint initiative of Police from Te Awamutu and Cambridge and Waipa District Council. Sergeant Evan Davidson of Te Awamutu says Police had received reports from the public concerned that under-age teenagers were able to purchase alcohol.

The operation targeted 15 off-licenced premises in Te Awamutu, Kihikihi and Cambridge. A supervised volunteer attempted to purchase alcohol from each of the businesses. The operation was conducted between 5pm and 9.30pm last Friday.

The volunteers were able to purchase liquor from eight businesses. In some cases the identification was requested, but when the volunteer said they had none, the alcohol was still sold.

Most disappointing was that the percentage of offending businesses in the Te Awamutu area was extremely high.

Waipa District Council District Liquor Licensing Agency says follow-up action will be taken in respect to the ‘offending’ premises. Officers say the lack of responsibility to adhere to the provision of the Sale of Liquor Act can have serious consequences. A number of avenues are open to the agency, but most likely a suspension of licence will be applied for.

They say a suspension is almost a certainty for this type of offending. In the worst scenario of repeat offending, a cancellation of licence can be the outcome.

Council say all managers of licensed premises have to be qualified and all should know the law.

Police say there is no doubt alcohol is one of the contributing factors to youth offending, so they regard the breaches as serious. They believe alcohol is a factor in much of the offending prevalent in this region. They add that the laws are there to protect the individual from the possible harmful effects of alcohol, as well as to protect the wider public.