Parmit Singh Kapoor, aged 29, of Hadley Gardens, Southall, London, was convicted at Reading Magistrates’ Court on 26 July 2019 after pleading guilty to selling a single bottle of Kopparberg cider to a 15 year old volunteer at BB Wines, 23 Broad Street, Wokingham.
On the 16 November 2018 Public Protection Partnership officers were conducting a routine underage sales operation and entered the store with an underage volunteer. The volunteer selected a single bottle of Kopparberg cider and took this to the till. Mr Kapoor was the only staff member in the store and was on the phone at the time of the visit but he did halt his call to sell the alcohol. No request was made for ID from the teenager nor did Mr Kapoor ask the volunteer their age or make any attempt to verify their age.
The case was prosecuted by the Public Protection Partnership’s Joint Case Management Unit. Accepting guilt, Mr Kapoor explained he was on the phone with his sister who was very upset at the time. Mr Kapoor was fined £100 and ordered to pay £200 towards prosecution costs plus a £30 victim’s surcharge resulting in a total of £330 to pay.
Commenting on the case Cllr Parry Batth, Wokingham Borough Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Leisure, said: “It is important that those who sell alcohol or indeed any age restricted product remain vigilant at all times. We will continue to carry out exercises of this nature as part of our comprehensive approach to age restricted sales enforcement.”
The Public Protection Partnership is a shared service of Wokingham Borough Council, Bracknell Forest Council and West Berkshire Council and delivers trading standards, environmental health and licensing functions.
