Liquor sellers may lose licences

By Yvette Wakelin
Welcome Bay Super Liquor, Bureta Foodmarket, Mount Wine Barrel, Papamoa Wines and McCallum's Wines and Spirits - these are the local liquor outlets responsible for selling alcohol girls as young as 14.
The five off-licence premises were caught when police targeted 39 outlets on Saturday night.
The businesses happily sold alcohol to young-looking girls aged 14 to 16, who made no effort to make themselves look older, when they professed to have "left their IDs at home."
Each of the stores caught in the bust face a fine of up to $5000, suspension or cancellation of their liquor licence.
The part owner of Papamoa Wines, who would not be identified, admitted she was the person responsible for selling the alcohol to a minor.
"It was my own fault. I did it," she said, highlighting that last Saturday was not her best.
"I have been ill and really wasn't with it - these things happen."
The woman, who has owned the store for 11 years, recalled the exact time on Saturday when the police stung.
"The girl came into the store with a man - I thought they were together."
But "the fact I had just got out of my sick bed is no excuse".
The owner and manager of McCallum's Wines and Spirits on Cameron Rd at Greerton, who wanted to be known only as Sukhi, said there was no denying his store was guilty.
"We are usually pretty good at asking for ID but it can be hard to pick how old a person really is.
"Some people look a lot older."
Having owned the store for just five weeks he said when it came to asking for ID some customers tended to get offended - particularly when they felt they obviously looked over 18.
The owners of the Welcome Bay and Mount stores were also approached by the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday but were unavailable for comment in time for this edition, while the female shop assistant at Bureta Foodmarket said she did not know how to contact her employer.
Liquor licensing Senior Sergeant Dave Thompson said it was disgusting the teenagers were able to purchase alcohol.
"To sell alcohol to someone underage is unbelievable but to sell to a 14-year-old is atrocious - there are no excuses for that.
As alcohol suppliers, Mr Thompson said they had the responsibility of ensuring they sold booze only to people they knew were aged 18 or over.
"They shouldn't just sell to people they think are 18."
It was youngsters who had the nous to illegally buy alcohol that were the ones getting into trouble on roads.
"These kids are driving on our roads while under the influence of alcohol and killing themselves and others."
Saturday's blitz made it obvious that "business owners have not taken their obligations seriously," he said.
The stores needed to adhere to a "no ID, no alcohol policy," even if the purchaser claimed to have left their ID at home.
Mr Thompson believed that had the operation used 17-year-olds, a lot more businesses would have fallen into the trap.
Mr Thompson warned that Saturday's blitz would be far from the last.
"Local liquor stores are going to see a lot more from us in the future, we are regularly going to run these operations," he said.
"We could be out there again in one to two months or we could be back in just a few weeks - we want to keep people guessing."