The Beauty & The Beast caf, located in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield has had its liquor license suspended for 21 days for serving alcohol to minors.
According to Liquor & Gaming NSW, a group of seven teenagers were served the equivalent of 58.4 standard drinks on the evening of 17 September 2015. The caf served the group 11 bottles of fruit flavoured Soju and four bottles of regular Soju.
When questioned by police, three of the minors said that the venue did not check for proof-of-age identification, with one adding that he has never experienced issues purchasing alcohol at the caf prior. One of the group told police that he became very intoxicated at the caf, and another was detected for low range drink driving early the following morning.
The manager of the establishment admitted that no proof-of-age details were requested from the group.
“Selling alcohol to minors is illegal – there are no exceptions,” says Liquor & Gaming NSW director of Compliance and Enforcement Anthony Keon.
“Preventing alcohol sales to minors is easily avoided by simply checking IDs for all customers who appear under the age of 25. In this instance, the number of minors, the large amount of alcohol, the lack of preventive procedures in place, and the high risk of harm increased the seriousness of the matter.
“Licensed venues need to ensure there are controls in place to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors and they are consistently applied and followed by all staff – otherwise they will face strict sanctions.”
The Beauty & The Beast caf has had its liquor license suspended from 10am on Thursday 10 March 2016 until 11.59pm on Wednesday 20 March 2016 under the Minors Sanctions Scheme.