Parents 'must face up to teen drinking'

To support the awareness raised through the You, Your Child and Alcohol Campaign, television adverts, officers will be distributing booklets directly to members of the public over the coming weeks.

The campaign is part of a wider package of measures already put in place by the PSNI and partner agencies to tackle underage drinking and antisocial behaviour.

Temporary Chief Superintendent, Andrew McQuiggan discusses:

"Underage drinking is one of the biggest issues of policing concern within our communities and it is often associated with instances of anti social behaviour, criminal damage and assault. One in 10 young people who have drunk alcohol have ended up in trouble with the police.

“We have been enforcing new powers to tackle under age drinking in public places, which came into force on Friday, January 29. This has meant that police officers can confiscate sealed containers of alcohol from young persons in public places without needing to prove that they were consuming alcohol or that they intended to consume alcohol in a public place.

“Young people under 18 can now be prosecuted for persistently possessing drink in a public place and if caught three or more times within a 12 month period they could face a maximum penalty of a 500 fine. Police will also have the power to bring young people under the age of 16 back home if they suspect they have been drinking.

“In addition to the above activity we have been working closely with licensees to run a number of ‘test purchase of alcohol operations’. The aim of these operations is to raise awareness amongst licensees and their staff, of the fact that alcohol is an age restricted product. Restricting the illegal supply of alcohol to young persons is one way to tackle the issue of underage drinking.”

Across Larne, Ballymena, Ballymoney and Moyle and Coleraine since the January 1 to June 15, police intervened on 97 occasions to remove 564 items of alcohol from underage drinkers and from people drinking in public in contravention of council byelaws. As a result of such detections, 33 juveniles have been reported to Youth Diversionary Officers and five individuals have been reported to the local council authorities.

Commenting on these figures Chief Inspector Ryan Henderson, Area Commander Larne said:

“Through the use of education, encouragement and enforcement, officers are working to tackle the issue of underage drinking. Larne police will continue to take a robust approach to underage drinking during the summer months. I would ask that parents take an active role in the education aspect and initiate conversations with their child in order to establish boundaries around drinking.”