Wick officer to lead drinks sting in Orkney

A SENIOR Wick policeman is to head a sting operation in Orkney in a bid to crack down on any vendors of alcohol who are selling to underage people.
Detective Sergeant Craig Thomson told caithness.org: “In every community, there are public places where groups of youths congregate for the purpose of consuming alcohol. This often results in anti-social behaviour and has obvious implications on the the quality of life for the communities”.
He continued:”Undoubtedly, many of the problems associated with youths can be directly attributed to the consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol. We are responding to the needs of our communities by pro-actively tackling this issue at the source, identifying and bringing to justice those who are perpetuating the problem of anti-social behaviour within our communities for the sake of profit.”
The Orkney operation will involved a fully-briefed underage teenager to enter licenced premises.
Sgt Thomson stressed that licence holders will not be duped into committing an offence because if they, as they should do, ask the age of the test purchaser, then the youngster will answer truthfully. The Orkney initiative is being supported by Highland Council, Crown Office, the Procurator Fiscal Service, the Licence Trade Association and Crimestoppers.
A similar operation in Caithness earlier this year, netted five premises which fell foul of the law.