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7. LIQUOR LICENSING LAW OFFENCES
In the period after the introduction of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, there was a gradual decrease in the number of liquor licensing offences recorded by the police, with periods of increase in the mid 1980's and mid 1990's. Since 2002/03 the figures have increased rapidly ( Chart 6). The total number of such offences recorded in 2006-07 was 2,017 compared with 1,439 in 2005/06, an increase of 40 per cent. The number of offences was 1,332 in 1980 ( Table 11). The most common type of liquor licensing offence recorded by the police in 1980 was a person under the age of 18 buying or consuming liquor in a bar, accounting for 50 per cent of all offences. More recently, the most commonly reported offences have been sale of drink to person under 18 and purchasing liquor for the consumption by a person under the age of 18 (40 per cent and 28 per cent of the total 2006-07 offences respectively).
Chart 6
Liquor Licensing Offences in Scotland, recorded by Police, 1977 to 2006-07
Financial penalties are the most commonly imposed sentence by the Scottish Courts for liquor licensing offences. In 2006-07, of the 212 convictions where a liquor licensing offence was the main offence, 83 per cent resulted in a financial penalty ( Table 12).
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