An Ipswich man has pleaded guilty to selling alcohol to children from his shop.

Ipswich Star:

Kalaivani Kathirithamby, the premises licence holder and director of KVS Food and Wine Ltd, in Bramford Road, was fined £803 and had his personal licence revoked after pleading guilty to selling alcohol to children under Section 147A of the Licensing Act 2003.

In July last year Suffolk Trading Standards received intelligence that alcohol was being sold to minors from the shop.

Trading standards and police officers carried out an underage alcohol test purchase operation in October 2014 using volunteers under the age of 18.

Alcohol was sold to both volunteers by Mahesbabu Kanapathipilla; the seller was issued with a £90 fine.

Following this Mr Kathirithamby was interviewed and sent a written warning. A further underage alcohol test purchase was carried out in December 2014 where a sale of alcohol was made personally by Mrs Kathirithamby.

In March this year, a licence review resulted in the removal of the premises licence.

Underage sales test purchase operations take place across Suffolk targeting a variety of premises.

Sarah Stamp, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for communities said: “We are extremely determined to do all we can to eradicate alcohol related youth disorder and we will not tolerate retailers who sell alcohol illegally to children.”

Anyone with intelligence regarding underage sales of alcohol or tobacco can report these anonymously to Trading Standards by calling 03454 04 05 06 or emailing: tradingstandards@suffolk.gov.uk.