Warrington landlord fined for possessing fake vodka

A WARRINGTON publican has been ordered to pay £1,600 for illegally possessing counterfeit vodka.
Gerald Joseph Dooley, 48, designated premises supervisor at Porters Ale House, Buttermarket Street, appeared at Warrington Magistrates Court and admitted offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, the Trade Marks Act and the Licensing Act and food labelling regulations.
The court was told a Trading Standards team visit the pub in December last year and discovered three one litre bottles of counterfeit Glen’s Vodka in the bar, two of which were already on optics and being served to customers.
A further 36 bottles of the counterfeit vodka were discovered in the cellar and were seized by Trading Standards officers.
Manufacturers of Glen’s Vodka, Loch Lomond Distillers, analysed samples of the seized vodka and confirmed that the contents of the bottles were counterfeit and the strength of the alcohol in the bottles was only 34.7 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) compared to the required 37.5 per cent ABV strength for vodka.
Trading Standards Officers discovered that Dooley had bought the vodka outside of the retail supply chain and had failed to perform even the most basic checks on the liquor.
Dooley was fined £800 for the offences and ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work. He will also pay the prosecution costs of £800 and a £60 victim surcharge.
Peter Astley, (pictured) Warrington Borough Council’s assistant director for regulation and public protection, said: “Just by simply
looking at the bottles, it would have become apparent that something wasn’t right. None of the labels on the bottles were straight and the boxes didn’t have the batch marking information printed on them. Someone with Mr Dooley’s experience in the licensing trade should have performed these basic checks.
“The majority of our licensed premises act sensibly but those traders who behave irresponsibly will be targeted by officers and prosecuted where necessary.”
Cllr Judith Guthrie, the council’s lead member for environment and public protection, said: “Selling counterfeit alcohol demonstrates a serious disregard for the law and to the people these businesses serve. We need to protect the people in our communities from those who will exploit and endanger them for a quick profit.
“Fake alcohol is extremely dangerous as the contents of the bottles are simply unknown. These fines should be a clear warning to other businesses and retailers considering selling counterfeit alcohol.”