Legal surgery
Graeme Cushion, partner at licensing solicitors
Poppleston Allen, answers food legislation questions
Q I operate a village pub with a large dining room. There is also a large bar area. My customers typically come in for a drink or two in the early part of the evening and then move into the dining room to have a meal. Once the meal is concluded they often retire to the bar area, where they stay to have a few more drinks until closing time. I am often asked by my regulars to keep their car keys behind the bar and to order them a taxi when it is time for them to go home. They then leave their cars overnight at my premises. I have always felt this is a responsible action on my part. But now I've heard rumours that the police may be sending undercover officers into pubs to check whether any customers have had too much to drink. As I have a lot of passing trade, I would not necessarily know who they are. If my customers are unfit to drive, will they be viewed as having had too much to drink by the police and will I, therefore, find myself in hot water?
Graeme says: The issue of drunkenness is a very difficult one. The legal definition was established by old case law that essentially describes someone as drunk if their faculties are impaired beyond what they would normally be. One view would be that someone who is unfit to drive is clearly impaired and, therefore, "drunk". The whole reason for the drink-drive limit is that a person's reaction- time slows down after they have had a drink or two.
You would, however, like to think that the police will be sensible about this. If a customer is not obviously legless, you would like to think that the police would take the same view as most normal people in considering having a few drinks in a public house to be perfectly normal. Indeed, the consumption of alcohol is taking place in a regulated environment where the people controlling it have been trained to the standards required by the Licensing Act.
The bottom line is that this is a major worry for operators. There are rumours, at the very least, that undercover officers will be deployed to licensed premises in November and right through to Christmas. This is a particular time of year when people may consume more alcohol than they normally do. Licensees will have to be very vigilant indeed in keeping an eye on the issue of drunkenness. Staff should be trained to spot signs of drunkenness and told to take a fairly hard line in terms of refusing service. The alternative is that the police will issue fixed-penalty notices to anyone who sells alcohol to someone who, in their view, is drunk. They will also issue fixed-penalty notices to the customer.
There is also then the possibility of a review...
