Cambuslang pub escapes with warning after serving underage drinker

Nov 9 2011 by Douglas Dickie, Rutherglen Reformer

A CAMBUSLANG pub has been handed a written warning after selling booze to a 17-year-old just weeks after its license was suspended for 30 days.

The owner of Sweepers found himself back at a Cambuslang and Rutherglen Licensing Board last week, after police called for a review hearing.

Tom Brown listened as the board, chaired by Councillor Pam Clearie, were told that just before 9pm on September 9, officers found a group of eight teenagers in the pub.

When they questioned some of the group, two of them turned out to be 17. One of them had been served at the bar and was drinking alcohol.

Representing Mr Brown, Joanna Brynes of Young and Partners said the staff member had previously served the minor when he produced what has turned out to be fake ID.

Ms Brynes produced a letter from the teenager apologising for the incident.

She said the incident had left Mr Brown and his wife “very upset” and had affected their sleeping, adding that the current closure had cost them money and was also having an “adverse impact” on Cambuslang Rangers, where Sweepers acts as the social club.

She said the staff member who served them was experienced while the pub had taken action to try and stop a repeat.

The board heard that Mr Brown kept an up-to-date refusal book, clearly advertised the Challenge 25 policy and had recently installed CCTV. He is also looking at training existing staff members as doormen.

Ms Brynes said: “They really are trying to do the right thing and run a well managed premises.

“This is not a premises with a chequered history. It is a family-run business. It is my submission that to take the licence away or suspend it further is something that is unnecessary.”

The council’s licensing officer told the board he had carried out a visit to the premises on October 8 saying there were “no issues,” and all their documents were freely available.

He also said they were one of the few pubs to clearly advertise the children’s policy for licenses premises.

The board voted by four to one for a written warning, but Councillor Clearie said: “The board were going to hand out something more serious.

“As Ms Brynes has already said, we don’t talk about previous cases we have dealt with before but because this has come up again, I would hope the client does not appear here again.

“The police will be monitoring the situation so that in Cambuslang and Rutherglen we don’t see the same people in front of us.”

On October 6, the pub had its licence suspended for 30 days in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder.