Study finds bartenders flout law and serve drunks

UK bartenders regularly flout legislation which prohibits them from selling alcohol to drunk people, according to a recent study.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University found that UK bartenders regularly break a law which states drunk people must not be served alcohol

Using four student actors pretending to be intoxicated, researchers at Liverpool John Moores University found that bar staff in an anonymous north-west UK city illegally served this group in 84% of cases.

Academics at the university claim this is proof that a law preventing the sale of alcohol to intoxicated people is being broken on a regular basis, placing “enormous burdens” on the NHS and other public services.

The law – which claims it is an offence to knowingly serve alcohol to a drunk person, or obtain alcohol for a drunk person on a licensed premises – falls under the Licensing Act 2003.

The actors in the study displayed signs of intoxication through stumbling, slurred speech, unsteadiness, and lack of eye focus.

In each attempt to get served by bar staff, actors were separated into pairs, with one pretending to be drunk, and the other taking on the role of the sober friend.

Bartenders were seen to recognise these signs of intoxication, yet still offered the actors a double rather than single shot drink in 18% of cases.

The report emphasised that despite the fact that this law is routinely broken, prosecutions are rare and, the issue should become a public health priority.

It read: “Although our study focused on one city, a lack of prosecution for sales to drunks throughout England suggests this is typical of nightlife environments nationally.

“Preventing alcohol sales to drunks should be a public health priority, while policy failures on issues such as alcohol pricing are revisited.”

Actors attempted to buy alcohol from 73 randomly selected pubs and nightclubs from Wednesday to Sunday, between 9pm to 3am.

Researchers found that service rates were high, with the actors served in 60% of cases on Wednesdays and 94% on Fridays. They were also served 78% of the time before midnight, but 96% after this time.

The study, carried out by a team at the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Violence Prevention at Liverpool John Moores University, was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.