An east Leeds shop sold alcohol to a 14 year-old boy, the authorities have claimed. Budgens, on Main Street in Garforth, allowed the teen to purchase Strongbow cider in November last year, a licensing hearing was told on Tuesday.
The allegation surfaced as Budgens has applied for a licence to sell alcohol 24 hours a day. The store is currently allowed to sell booze between 7am and 11pm.
The shop’s solicitor initially suggested the boy had used fake ID to buy the cider, but then later told the hearing there was “no evidence” any offence had taken place.
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A committee was told the police and a council enforcement officer had visited the store to speak with the management team in December 2022, after the boy’s mum reported the alleged incident. PC Andy Clifford said the teenager was visibly underage and that the shop should have been sceptical of any ID that was shown, though he said he believed the boy hadn’t actually used any.
He said: “In this instance they’ve not been a responsible retailer. If any ID was produced, that doesn’t automatically allow the sale. There should be further questions asked.
“What they should have done is take his ID away from him and then contact the police and refuse the sale. But it’s our submission that he didn’t use ID.”
PC Clifford said the police had chosen not to prosecute the shop or take any further action at the time. Budgens then passed a test purchase operation conducted by the authorities soon after.
But the officer said he was “surprised” the shop had applied for an extension to its licence so soon after the alleged incident, which prompted his objection. Giving evidence as a witness, the boy’s mum told the committee she’d found an image on her son’s Snapchat account of some Strongbow dark fruits cider.
She said he’d admitted to buying the alcohol from Budgens, and that they’d both later visited the store, where she’d received an apology from a staff member. She said her son had assured her he’d not used a fake ID, and nor had she found one.
The shop’s solicitor, Robert Botkai, had earlier argued the alleged incident should not be used as evidence in the hearing, because it was irrelevant to the application. But the committee of three councillors rejected that suggestion.
Before a brief adjournment, Mr Botkai said: “The boy produced ID that was seen by the store.” But addressing councillors later, he said: “My understanding is the CCTV wasn’t checked by the police. The store looked at the CCTV but weren’t able to find images of this particular person.
“We passed the test purchase. No offence has taken place here. There’s been no prosecution. There’s no evidence. We shouldn’t be dwelling on this.”
A further 11 objections to Budgens’ application were put forward by local councillors and residents, who expressed concerns about noise and anti-social behaviour. Mr Botkai said, however, that there was “no evidence to suggest this store is a focus of disorder”.
The shop will find out in the coming days whether or not its application has been successful.
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