Pubcos may avoid underage sale fines

Pub companies are less likely to face prosecution for an underage sale after a judge said premises licence holders should not be held responsible.

That is according to lawyer Graeme Cushion, who represented three companies that had cases against them dropped for failing test purchase operations.

Venues owned by managed operator Mitchells & Butlers, plus the Restaurant Group and Jarvis Hotels, served an under-18 in a sting operation in York in December 2005.

Trading standards dropped the prosecutions after a district judge said he did not believe premise licence holders are liable for the underage sale.

Following the judge's comments, York trading standards officers dropped a number of prosecutions against premises licence holders - some of them pubcos - for the same offence.

Cushion, a partner at Poppleston Allen, said this is not a binding judgement because a full hearing into the case was never held, but the judge's comments offer a "strong indication of what a court's view might be".

"The York situation is currently being used to encourage other authorities considering doing the same thing to desist," said Cushion.

Cushion argued that the Licensing Act does not specifically say the premises licence holder is responsible for underage sales.

However, this power is granted in the new Violent Crime Reduction Act for venues that repeatedly serve under-18s.

Under this Act, premises licence holders - often the pubcos themselves - could be hit with a £10,000 fine and face a three-month closure order if they serve alcohol to under-18s three times in three months.

These powers are expected to be available to courts early next year.