Scotland - 5 day ban for failing test purchase overturned

In November 2011, we reported on Glasgow Sheriff Court’s decision to uphold a 5 day ban on alcohol sales imposed by Glasgow Licensing Board for a Lidl store which failed a test purchase despite the store’s significant due diligence systems, passing of a subsequent test purchase and sacking of the manager who made the sale.

Our previous article can be found here in our article: "Scotland - Under Age Test Purchasing: Due Diligence not enough?" 

The subsequent appeal to the Court of Session has now been determined and has resulted in the ban being overturned, with the appeal judges stating “it is difficult to identify any cogent reason for which the respondents could properly have come to the view that grounds existed for a review of the appellants' Premises Licence”.

Further, they went on to say that “we are therefore left with having to draw the virtually inevitable inference that the objective of the respondents in suspending the licence for five days was to impose a financial penalty upon the premises licence holder on the sole basis that one employee had departed on a single instance from the employers' procedures and instructions.”

This is a significant decision for operators but also reinforces the need for licence holders to ensure that they have appropriate and rigorous due diligence systems in place.

The full judgment can be found here http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2013CSIH25.html