Serving drinks to those who are drunk

What has happened?

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University sent actors pretending to be drunk into a series of city bars.

The actors were trained to act drunk using slurred speech, unsteadiness, lack of eye focus and fumbling and were then sent to buy alcoholic drinks at 73 bars in a city.

In 84% of cases, the actors were served alcohol, despite bartenders often recognising they appeared to be drunk.

Is this illegal?

Under the Licensing Act 2003, it is an offence to knowingly serve alcohol to a drunk person, or to obtain alcohol for a drunk person on a licensed premises.

Technically in this case, none of the bars concerned broke the law since the actors were only pretending to be intoxicated.

However, the point remains that licensed premises who serve alcohol to drunk people are breaking the law, even though the university research bears out the belief that this law is routinely flouted.

Prosecutions in such cases are rare, but they do happen – and may increase as a result of studies like this and the ensuing publicity.

What did the researchers say?

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University’s World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Violence Prevention said preventing sales of alcohol to already drunk people would protect long-term health and reduce the strain on the NHS and other public services.

Their report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, added: “Preventing alcohol sales to drunks should be a public health priority, while policy failures on issues, such as alcohol pricing, are revisited.”

What does this mean for me?

The research is a timely reminder for licensees of where they stand in legal terms when it comes to serving alcohol to people who appear to be already drunk.

There are a number of grey areas and practical issues within this, however – how can you be certain that someone is drunk before you refuse to serve them? What happens if you refuse to serve someone and they become aggressive?

Licensees are clearly in a difficult position when it comes to balancing their legal responsibilities with running a popular and successful business but it is well to be mindful of the law in this area, particularly as it may come under increasing scrutiny from now on.

With the health lobby playing an increasing role in driving public policy and putting licensing authorities and the police under pressure to tackle alcohol-related issues, operators will need to be especially vigilant.

How can Ward Hadaway help?

We have extensive experience of advising a wide range of licensees on their legal obligations in this area and other licensing issues.

For further information on how we can help your business strike the right balance, please get in touch.