Store denies allegations of underage sales of alcohol after teen ends up in hospital

A shopkeeper has been accused of putting profits first when selling a bottle of vodka from his Sutton Coldfield off licence to a teen who ended up in hospital.

Sanmuganathan Rusikumar denied the allegation at a Birmingham City Council licensing sub committee on 17 November, held to discuss whether his premises licence should be revoked.

In evidence submitted by West Midlands Police, the 15-year-old victim said she had been able to buy alcohol from Lucky Food and Wine, in Jerome Road, on three separate occasions using fake ID.

On one occasion in June this year, she downed a large amount of vodka and self-harmed which resulted in her being rushed to hospital.

The authority’s trading standards team said there had been a “litany of complaints” in the past two years against the shop and both they and licensing officers backed the police’s call for a review.

But barrister Duncan Craig, representing Mr Rusikumar, said his client did not accept the sales had been made. Residents also gave good character references in support of the shopkeeper.

Phil Jones, of West Midlands Police, said the girl had used a fake medical ID when she went in to buy the vodka.

She claimed she was initially told they’d never seen the ID before and that she could “have it this time but not next time”.

He said: “You’ve got a 15-year-old girl who has said she has been sold alcohol on three separate occasions at this premises with staff on two occasions saying they shouldn’t accept the ID, they know they shouldn’t but they will anyway.

“West Midlands Police are concerned the premises have repeatedly put profit over the promotion of the licensing objectives by selling alcohol to a vulnerable underage girl.”

Paul Ellson, of trading standards, said other complaints included a mother saying her daughter – another 15 year old – had been able to buy a bottle of Echo Falls from Lucky in March 2020.

Also, after the June incident, a complaint was made that a 15-year-old boy had been able to buy alcohol and vaping products there, prompting another visit by trading standards officers.

Mr Ellson said: “The situation was explained which he appeared to ignore and blamed adults for resupplying children.

“This is a usual excuse and a common reaction when allegations are put to certain traders. When it was pointed out credit card sale has been run he still refused to accept it.

“I can only say on a personal note, he treated us with utter contempt. His reaction was lamentable at best and shocking at worst. He showed he had little understanding of the law and just chose to ignore them.

“The litany of complaints against one trader is rare indeed in my 30 years’ of experience. It is my belief Mr Rusikumar has breached all four licensing objectives.”

Mr Craig said: “My client certainly personally does not accept selling alcohol to anyone underage.

“He has no recollection of this girl and his position is anyone who appears to be under the age of 25 is ID’d.

“Normally, when someone has been served underage, there is very little wriggle room for me to attack the evidence because it’s a test purchase, undertaken in a controlled manner and involves someone verifiably underage and looks underage.

“There is a photograph of them. There are officers involved and it is recorded in a systematic way. This situation is very different.

“No officer from West Midlands Police has met this individual, no officer has met the father, we simply don’t know what she looks like, we don’t know the circumstances around her hospitalisation.

“I’m not going to suggest this is fabricated but there are a number of alternative explanations to this that simply have not been sufficiently investigated.

“That is not a criticism but you have to deal with the evidence as it stands before us and it’s my job to point out limitations to the evidence.

“We haven’t seen the medical ID documents the girl purports to use. You’re being asked to accept the word of somebody nobody has met, doesn’t know what she looks like and they’re not here to give an account.

There are a number of complaints that have been made but we can’t be in the territory of people having their livelihoods taken away from them simply off the back of phone calls.

“These things have to be tested evidentially. They have to be investigated properly. I’m not saying this girl is lying because I’m not in a position to evaluate that. Nobody is.”

He said Mr Rusikumar accepted some breaches around CCTV and keeping an updated refusals register and recommended a suspension of the licence rather than complete revocation.

A decision will be made by members of the licensing committee in the coming days.