Published: Thursday, 21st August, 2008 08:50
Dunfermline off-licence banned after under-age alcohol claims
By Gary Fitzpatrick
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A DUNFERMLINE off-licence has been banned from selling alcohol for three months after being identified by police as a hang-out for under-age drinkers.
Residents around Omar’s store in Alexandra Street claim anti-social behaviour and vandalism in the area has been caused by youngsters buying carry-outs there.
Police heard that school pupils going to Queen Anne High would drop off their school bags at the shop with money inside and pick them up later filled with booze.
There appeared to be confirmation of this when parents of a 14-year-old wearing a school uniform found alcohol in his schoolbag after he had been caught playing truant. He claimed he had bought the drink from Omar’s.
There are claims that youngsters travelled from all over Dunfermline to Omar’s because they could get served there. Blue carrier bags from the shop were regularly found in under-age drinking hot spots such as Buffies Brae, Baldridgeburn and Lady Campbell’s Walk, said the police.
There was also information from young Touch girls who told police that they travelled by bus into the city centre and then walked up Omar’s after hearing it was the best place for under-agers to buy alcohol.
The shop also sold cups and straws to youngsters as part of their carry-out, Fife Licensing Board was told on Thursday.
The six councillors on the board decided unanimously to suspend the licence but were split on the length of the ban.
Dunfermline North councillor David Mogg had proposed the maximum 12-month suspension but, on the casting vote of chairman Andrew Rodger, a three-month ban was imposed.
The board heard the tangled affairs of the family-run shop, where police say 80 per cent of shelf space is taken up by alcohol.
The licensee, Mohammed Riaz (54), 7 Harris Place, is semi-retired and recently was out of the country for a lengthy period on a trip to Pakistan.
The shop is actually run by his son Sakander, who has a conviction for selling wine to a 16-year-old girl who was taking part in the test purchase scheme at the shop.
He was fined £350 at the city’s sheriff court in October last year.
The shop is named after Mohammed Riaz’s other son, Omar, who was the licensee until March last year. He now works full-time elssewhere but still helps out in the family business.
Chief Inspector Dougie Saunders told the hearing that police received an anonymous letter in March 2006 alleging that alcohol was being sold to minors.
A licensing officer met Omar Riaz to inform him of the claim, which he denied, but he was warned to keep strict control over the sale of alcohol on the premises.
In November 2006, the premises were subject of a test purchase operation and Sakander Riaz sold a bottle of wine to a 16-year-old girl without asking her age.
The police submission then detailed an incident just over a week later stating, “About 1255 hours (school lunch hour) on Friday 8th December 2006 Sakander Riaz sold a 14-year-old child two bottles of fortified wine and a bottle of cider at these premises. In this instance, Riaz actually placed the alcohol within the child’s schoolbag and at no time did he ask the 14-year-old for any identification as proof of age.”
Both Sakander and Omar Riaz were charged and reports sent to procurator fiscal but not-guilty pleas were accepted.
Omar Riaz was then charged with selling alcohol to two 17-year-olds on 28th December 2006 but again the fiscal accepted his denial.
In April this year a CCTV unit was set up in the street to monitor comings and goings at the shop. Officers were joined by councillors in watching images as they came in. They viewed obviously under-age girls approach youths who then went into the shop and came back out with alcohol for them.
Police investigations found that it was a 17-year-old who had bought them three bottles of MD 20/20 and cigarettes.
The other youth, who was 19, subsequently claimed to police that Sakander Riaz tried to get him to admit buying the alcohol instead of the 17-year-old.
Sakander Riaz was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice but the fiscal decided no proceedings should be brought.
Chief Inspector Saunders’ report went on, “Since the Riaz family took over this shop in 2003 significant evidence has existed that the manner in which the premises were being operated has led directly to the surrounding area being frequented by numerous youths, the knock-on effect being increased levels of anti-social behaviour and crime.
Police officers have spoken to many local residents “who intimate that what was once a quiet street has now been turned into a haven for drunken behaviour”. These residents “lay all the blame on the conduct of this shop”.
Mr Riaz’s solicitor, Tom Johnston, said the board’s decision should be based on the facts, “not sleaze, innuendo and on a bucket of mud that’s been thrown around”.
He said Mohammed Riaz had 30 years’ experience in the retail and catering trades with no blemish on his record. There had been four test purchases at the shop since his client took over and on each occasion no alcohol had been sold.
Mr Johnston insisted that any incidents before March 2007 when his client took over the licence had nothing to do with him and should not have a bearing on the hearing.
The solicitor criticised the treatment of Sakander Riaz when he was taken to Dunfermline Police Station over the claims he had asked a youth to lie for him.
He was put in handcuffs and put in cell in attempt to “intimidate” him, said Mr Johnston.
Earlier, Chief Inspector Saunders said Sakander Riaz had been “obstructive, rude and unco-operative” with police at the station.
After the decision, Chief Inspector Saunders said, “It’s three months and not 12 but this will at least give people in the area a bit of respite.”
Mr Johnston said he would be meeting his client to discuss the possibility of an appeal but had no other comment to make.
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