Underage sale earns liquor licence suspension

A Hastings tavern will not be able to sell alcohol for twenty four hours after being caught selling to two underage purchasers earlier this year.

The Liquor Licensing Authority has suspended the On Licence of The Horse and Hound Café & Bar in Mayfair from 7.00 am on Thursday 24 September 2009 until 7.00 am the following day.

This suspension is a result of a combined operation by Police, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, and Hastings District Council in March 2009, when fourteen premises were tested and The Horse and Hound was the only one to fail.

The duty manager of the premises has had his General Manager’s Certificate suspended for two weeks, and the barman who sold the liquor was prosecuted by Police.

Hastings District Council’s Community Safety Manager Malcom Hart said “The sale was disappointing, but I am mindful of the fact that this is the first time since we have been conducting these operations that The Horse and Hound has sold to our underage buyers.”