Home Department written question – answered at on 28 April 2009.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) off-licences and (b) on-licences have been convicted for offences related to the sale of alcohol in each of the last five years.
Information showing the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the sale of alcohol in England and Wales from 2003-07 (latest available) is in table 1. From data collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice, it is not possible to separately identify the number of off-licences from the number of on-licences. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
The penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme was rolled out to all police forces in England and Wales in 2004 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Information showing the number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued relating to the sale of alcohol is shown in table 2.
Table 1: Number of defendants, by persons and other defendants, found guilty at all courts for offences related to the sale of alcohol( 1) , England and Wales, 2003-07( 2, 3) | |||
Persons | Other defendants( 4) | Total | |
2003 | 409 | 10 | 419 |
2004 | 605 | 4 | 609 |
2005 | 771 | 1 | 772 |
2006 | 839 | 16 | 855 |
2007 | 510 | 16 | 526 |
(1) Includes the following offences and statutes: 14203: Selling intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 for consumption on the premises (Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 Schedule (Sec 3) para 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 Sec 169(1)). 14352: Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. (Licensing Act 1964 Sec 181 A(1) as added by Licensing Act 1988 Sec 17). 14353: Wholesaler allowing a person under 18 to sell intoxicating liquor without the specific approval of the wholesaler or an adult acting on his behalf. (Licensing Act 1964 Sec 181 A(2) as added by Licensing Act 1988 Sec 17). 14374: Sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. (Licensing Act 2003 S.141) 14379: Sale of alcohol to person under 18. (Licensing Act 2003 S.146) 14380: Allowing sale of alcohol to person under 18. (Licensing Act 2003 S.147) 14398: Persistently selling alcohol to children (Licensing Act 2003 as added by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006). (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Other offenders include companies and public bodies. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform. |
Table 2: Number of persons issued with a penalty notice for disorder relating to the sale of alcohol( 1) , in England and Wales, 2004-07( 2, 3) | |
Number | |
2004 | 113 |
2005 | 2,090 |
2006 | 3,242 |
2007 | 3,664 |
(1) Includes the following offences: Sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk. (Licensing Act 2003 S.141): introduced on 4 April 2005. Sale of alcohol to person under 18. (Licensing Act 2003 S.146): introduced on 1 November 2004. (2) Sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk was introduced to the PND scheme on 4 April 2005. (3) Sale of alcohol to person under 18 was introduced to the PND scheme on 1 November 2004. |
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