A Southampton retailer found stocking nearly 200 bottles of illicit booze and serving a 15-year-old boy has had his alcohol licence suspended.
Customs and trading standards officers found 196 bottles, which were lacking duty stamps or had suspected counterfeit labels in Ahmad Khushdil’s Best-one store.
Almost 100 litres of wine believed to be non-duty paid and 121 litres of illegal spirits were seized in September last year. Trading standards also found 450g of non-duty paid tobacco.
Khushdil blamed a cash & carry for the phoney products, however, it was later found that the cash & carry was registered to an address that does not exist.
Two months after the discovery, a test purchase was made resulting in Khushdil selling four cans of beer to a 15-year-old boy.
The store is not allowed to sell alcohol for six weeks and following the suspension Khushdil must meet several conditions in order to keep his licence, including operating a “Challenge 25” alcohol sales policy, giving staff robust training, and keeping a written record of any refusals to sell alcohol to customers. The store’s CCTV system must also be kept in working order and tapes should be stored.
