Tauranga crackdown: Stores sell alcohol to minors

Eight Tauranga premises, including a supermarket, have been found to be selling alcohol to minors. Photo / 123RF

A “prominent supermarket”, bottle shops and grocery stores are among eight Tauranga off-licenses caught selling alcohol to minors.

Forty-six premises were visited on Saturday in the controlled purchase operation, a Tauranga City Council statement said.

The operation was conducted by the council’s alcohol licensing team and a Tauranga Police alcohol harm prevention co-ordinator.

The statement said it revealed serious breaches of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.

Teenagers aged 15-17 years posed as buyers, supervised by police and alcohol licensing inspectors.

Council alcohol licensing team leader Sam Kemp said alarmingly, eight establishments sold alcohol without verifying the buyer’s age or requesting any form of identification.

“When questioned by alcohol licensing inspectors, the duty managers admitted they had not verified the minor’s age or, in some cases, not requested appropriate identification and, instead, they completed the sale and allowed the purchase to proceed,” Kemp said.

This latest operation followed a sting in March that also caught eight licensed premises.

“The continued non-compliance highlights serious shortcomings in the in-store training and policies of some premises,” Kemp said.

The council would continue to take “firm action” to ensure public safety and uphold the law.

Kemp said Tauranga alcohol licensing inspectors and police would be submitting suspension applications to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority.

These applications would target the duty managers at the time of the breaches and the off-licenses of the non-compliant premises.

The council declined to name the premises as it worked through the process.

According to authority decisions, all eight premises caught out in the March operation went on to lose their right to sell liquor for 48 hours.

They were Liquorland CBD Tauranga, Bottle Craft Te Puna, Avenue Liquor Centre, Papamoa Liquor Centre, Mount Boutique Liquor, Papamoa Beach Liquor Centre, Super Liquor Te Puke and Harties Liquor Store.

Most also had a duty manager’s certificate suspended for 28 days.

In a decision posted yesterday, BottleZone Papamoa East had its off-license suspended for 48 hours after selling to a minor in a separate incident.

Police investigating an assault by two youths, aged 16 and 17, on an elderly man discovered one of the youths had bought alcohol from the store.

The duty manager involved confirmed this. The decision said that person no longer worked in the industry.

In March the Welcome Bay Sports Bar and Grill and attached bottle store lost their liquor licenses because of Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act breaches.