A shop sold a litre of vodka to a 16-year-old boy found extremely drunk in a town centre street.
Dylan’s Superstore, also known as High Street Mini Mart, in Dover, has had its alcohol licence stripped after the boy was left needing hospital treatment.
Dover District Council’s licensing committee heard how a shop assistant was spotted on CCTV selling the spirit to the underage drinker in August without challenging him on his age.
The licence holder for the business was not present when officers attended and did not appear to visit the store regularly.
It was also claimed little or no training seemed to have been provided to staff around challenging underage customers.
A review of the premises licence was carried out under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, supported by Kent County Council’s trading standards team.
At a hearing on Monday, the committee revoked the licence indefinitely.
“We are committed to protecting young people from the dangers of alcohol…”
Licensing officer PC Danielle Rolfe said: “The sale of alcohol to children puts them at risk of harm, as was the case when this boy was allowed to buy such a large amount of spirits unchallenged.
“We are committed to protecting young people from the dangers of alcohol, and protecting the community from the anti-social behaviour which can follow underage drinking.
“I hope the revocation of this shop’s licence sends out a message to other businesses to run their stores responsibly, with consideration for children and the wider community. If they fail to do so, we will take action.”
Oliver Jewell, principal trading standards officer for Kent County Council, added: “We fully supported the recommendations of police to revoke the licence due to the serious impact in this case.
“Our officers will always support retailers who are engaged and wish to comply. In this case however it was apparent that claims of being an experienced licence holder were contradicted by the actions, both before and after the incident.
“The plans put forward were both too little and too late.”
