Sheriffs's booze blast

David Knox 1607 - 1607 • Published 3 Sep 2008 09:00 0 Comments

A SELKIRK sheriff is leading the fight against under-age drinking in the Borders.

Kevin Drummond has vowed to stem the flow of booze reaching youngsters - and started this week by locking up a 41 year-old man from Newtown St Boswells.

Recent surveys have found almost half of 15-year-olds in the Borders get tanked up each week.

And around five kids each month are admitted to the A&E department at Borders General Hospital with alcohol related problems - many requiring their stomachs to be pumped.

Paul Gillespie from Sprouston Cottages bought a bottle of wine and a half-bottle of vodka for two girls, aged only 13 and 14, on June 6.

Eagle-eyed store staff at the village"s Co-op saw the 41-year-old hand over the alcohol to the teenagers and contacted the police.

And as officers searched for the girls they stumbled across a 15-year-old girl who was "heavily under the influence" on her way home from a party.

Separate criminal charges have been brought against the owners of the house where the under-age booze-up was going on.

But this week the man who bought some of the drink was behind bars.

And other adults caught supplying kids with drink could follow.

Sheriff Drummond said: 'One of the most serious problems in our society is the consumption of alcohol by youths - the trouble they cause as well as the health implications.

'This conduct by adults of buying alcohol for children must stop now.'

Selkirk Sheriff Court was told that Gillespie, who is an alcoholic, had become a target for teenagers in Newtown looking for booze and fags.

His lawyer Mark Harrower said: 'The same girls had called at his house twice to see if he would get them drink and some boys have also asked him.

'The same girls have been back at his house since this incident and he has told them to go away.'

Gillespie was jailed for 80 days.

And local police welcome the hard line adopted by the courts against what they describe as one of their biggest problems.

Hawick-based Inspector James Royan told the Border Telegraph: "We view the supply of alcohol to persons under the age of 18 as a very serious matter and we welcome the decision of the court."

A survey carried out two years ago in Borders schools discovered the average child has their first drink when they are only 12-years-old.

Scottish Borders Council"s community safety officer Paul Richardson said: 'There is a heavy drinking culture in the Borders associated with rugby and the common ridings where alcohol is seen to be acceptable.'

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This article appeared in Border Telegraph 03 Sep 08

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