A Newcastle shop boss sold a bottle of vodka to a 14-year-old girl while he was distracted by an international football match on TV, a court has heard.

The teenager's father complained to Newcastle Borough Council about Merrial Express after spotting his daughter had "red eyes and smelled of alcohol" following the incident in July 2024, magistrates at North Staffordshire Justice Centre were told.

Priyantha Tilakasiri Narasingha Mudiyanselage is now facing a bill of more than £5,000 after admitting selling the booze to a person aged under 18 at Merrial Express.

The court heard that CCTV footage showed him handing over the bottle and accepting cash, without entering the transaction into the till.

Simon Kiely, prosecuting on behalf of Newcastle Borough Council, said: "On July 8 Newcastle Borough Council received a complaint from an individual about a shop that had sold alcohol to his daughter and her friend.

"On July 12 one of the enforcement officers attended the shop in question and carried out an inspection.

"(Mudiyanselage) introduced himself, saying he was the manager and designated premises supervisor.

"He didn't know how to use or operate the CCTV system, he didn't know the password or PIN to access the system."

Mr Kiely said this was a breach of the Merrial Street shop's premises licence. He added that there were further breaches too, including the CCTV system being 18 minutes slow.

There was only one Challenge 25 poster on display, which was located behind the front door, and no date of birth card behind the till to enable cashiers to ascertain if birth dates given by customers made them underage for potential alcohol sales.

A till prompt, which alerted cashiers to age-restricted sales items when they were scanned, worked for tobacco products but not for a number of alcohol products, Mr Kiely said, and the last entry in the register of sales refusals for age-restricted items was made in April 2023.

"When footage was viewed it showed him behind the counter", Mr Kiely said. "He put the vodka bottle on the counter without scanning through the till and the girl handed cash over, despite the girls being clearly under aged 25.

"One of the girls who went into the premises provided a witness statement, confirming she and the other girl were 14 at the time of the incident.

"They had been coming towards the end of Year Nine at school.

"He admitted making the underage alcohol sale and said he was distracted by watching a football match on TV.

"He believed the girls to be around 19, and mistook them for regular customers whose ID he had seen before."

Harpreet Jhawar, defending, said that Mudiyanselage had no previous convictions. "He is somebody who prides himself on being somebody who adheres to the law and has a clear record until today – this is going to have negative ramifications moving forward", he added.

"My client and his family are from Sri Lanka and moved here in 2010. They are a law-abiding family and my client has qualified in law.

"There are no other instances of involvement with the council. There has been a test purchase after the incident in 2024 which he has passed.

"He accepts it to have come about through a lack of housekeeping and keeping the business in order. He was very dependent on his three daughters who are now embarking on their own careers.

"On the date in question there was an international football match on and he had put a wager on.

"The two young ladies walked into the shop and asked for a bottle of vodka, and he accepts he picked it up, served them and they left.

"There is no suggestion that this is something he is doing regularly and no suggestion he has done it prior or after.

"It has been an extremely rude awakening when he was told of his mistake."

Magistrates imposed two fines of £120. Mudiyanselage was also ordered to pay a £48 victim surcharge and £5,000 costs, giving an overall bill of £5,288.

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