Section 53 – Offences of supplying alcohol to a child or young person
169.Subsection (1) of this provision inserts section 104A into the 2005 Act making it a criminal offence for a person, other than a child or young person, to buy or attempt to buy alcohol for or on behalf of a child or to give or otherwise make available alcohol to a child.
170.It also inserts a new section 104B which makes it a criminal offence for a person, other than a child or young person, to buy, attempt to buy, give or otherwise make alcohol available, to a young person. “Young person” is defined in section 147 of the 2005 Act as a person who is 16 or 17 years of age.
171.It is not an offence under either section however to buy alcohol for, or give alcohol to, a child or young person, a) for consumption other than in a public place or b) for the purposes of religious worship.
172.In addition, it is not an offence under section 104B – if beer, wine, cider or perry is bought, given or made available to the young person along with a meal to be consumed in relevant premises.
173.These exceptions do not apply to the offences of buying alcohol on behalf of a child or young person.
174.There is also a defence to the section 104B offence if the person who bought or gave the alcohol did not know the young person was under 18 years.
175.A person convicted of either offence may receive a fine, not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, imprisonment for up to three months, or both.
176.In both sections, “public place” is defined as relevant premises, any place to which public have access to at the relevant time (on payment or not), and any place to which the public do not have access but which the child or young person unlawfully gains access to. The term “relevant premises” is defined in section 122 of the 2005 Act.
177.Subsection (2) repeals subsections (4), (5) and (7) of section 105 of the 2005 Act (and consequentially renames that section), as the substance of those subsections is replicated in new sections 104A and 104B.