How old's your little boy?

An Asda store has come under fire for refusing to sell alcohol to a 44-year-old woman because she had her younger partner and young son with her, neither of whom could produce proof of age (and her son was in any event only 17) and, as the store saw it, there was no guarantee that she was not going to pass the alcohol on to them. This is another real can of worms. Firstly of course, no shopkeeper is ever under any duty to sell anything to anyone - so Asda had an absolute right to refuse to sell the alcohol - or anything else for that matter - to her, without having to give any reason. Whether that was a good and sensible move from a customer service point of view is another matter. But the main problem is the law relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol, which is a real dog's breakfast. Anybody over the age of five can legally consume alcohol in private and under adult supervision (although depending on age, social services might take a dim view) but you can't purchase alcohol until you are 18. So far, so good, but then the Licensing (Young Persons) Act 2000 made it an offence for anyone to purchase alcohol on behalf of someone under the age of 18. Obviously a law made with the best of intentions, but it creates a ridiculous situation whereby an adult can buy alcohol for themselves, and then permit someone over the age of five to drink some - or indeed all - of it, but cannot buy the alcohol "for" that other person. But where's the distinction? The offence, if it is committed at all, is committed after the sale, when the alcohol is passed on to the minor - or alternatively is a matter of construing the intention of the purchaser at the time of sale. And because the penalties are far from trivial, it is not surprising that stores err on the side of caution and circumstances such as happened in Asda occur. So beware if you go shopping with your children - you may have to forgo that bottle of wine!