To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there were in the Lothians region in each of the last three years for the (a) sale of alcohol to a person under 18, (b) purchasing of alcohol for consumption by a person under 18, (c) purchase of alcohol or its consumption on a licensed premises by a person under 18 and (d) confiscation of alcohol from a person under 18.
The available information is given in the following table.
Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Offences Related to Underage Alcohol Consumption1, in the Lothians region, 2005-06 to 2007-08
Financial Year | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Sale of drink to person under 182 | 8 | 15 | 16 |
Person under 18 buying excisable liquor or consuming in bar | - | 2 | 1 |
Purchasing excisable liquor for consumption by person under 18 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
Confiscation of alcohol from person under 18 | - | - | - |
Total | 13 | 25 | 25 |
Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.
Notes:
1. Where main offence.
2. Covers crime categories sale of drink to person under 18 and wholesaler selling liquor to person under 18, although no crimes of the latter have been recorded in the years reported.
Please note that prosecution is not the sole course taken in dealing with these offences. Where persons under 18 possess alcohol in a public place, the police have powers under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 to confiscate this alcohol and dispose of it. If the alcohol is surrendered to the police, it is not an offence and so is not included in the recorded crime statistics. It is, however, an offence to fail to comply, for example by failing to surrender the alcohol or by failing to give name and address if requested. During the years reported, for the Lothians region, there were no recorded instances of persons under 18 failing to comply with such a request.
With regard to this answer, and the answer to question S3W-26513 on 7 September 2009, it should be noted that statistics dealing with court proceedings and recorded crime are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.