RETAILERS are being urged to revise their age verification procedures after a teenager was sold a vape.
Officers from Thames Valley Police and the Public Protection Partnership visited a store in Wokingham with a 15-year-old volunteer earlier this year.
The teenager asked the sales assistant if they could buy a vape and the part-time sales assistant sold them the item without challenging them or asking for identification.
Wokingham Borough Council’s trading standards team has since prosecuted the individual, who pleaded guilty and admitted they had received training on the sale of age-restricted products.
In court, the defendant said that the teenager looked over 18, so they bypassed the till prompt, which forms part of the challenge 25 policy.
On December 5, at Reading Magistrates’ Court, the defendant was fined £115 (reduced to £76 for an early guilty plea), and ordered to pay £200 towards the prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £30.
Retailers and members of the public are encouraged to report suspected underage sales by email to the trading standards team.
For more information, visit: directory.wokingham.gov.uk
