Sponsored by
Big fine after fuel sold to teenager
A shopkeeper has been fined more than £900 after he admitted selling lighter fluid to a 14-year-old girl.
Keshu Odera, 48, apologised for selling the butane lighter fluid to the girl at Chapman's in Windmill Avenue when he appeared at Kettering Magistrates Court yesterday.
Odera, who was cautioned for selling fireworks to an under-18 in 2007, said: "I made a mistake. I'm sorry.
"I don't know what else to say."
Odera was caught out by a test purchaser working for the county council's trading standards department in January.
Hayley Deighton, prosecuting, said Odera failed to even look at the test purchaser when handing over the butane, which is illegal to sell to under-18s.
Odera said: "I usually try to check, but I was busy and I made a mistake giving it on this occasion."
The till had no function to prompt the operator to check for identification and the staff had no training.
Trading standards officers had previously sent the shop posters and stickers reminding staff and customers about age limits, but Odera did nothing with them.
Miss Deighton said trading standards had previously received complaints that the shop, which has an annual turnover of 40,000, was selling cigarettes and alcohol to under-18s.
Volatile substance abuse kills one person a week in the UK. It kills more 10 to 15-year-olds than all illegal drugs together.
Butane lighter refills like the one sold are responsible for about 80 per cent of the deaths.
Trading standards officer Carol Gamble said: "It shows that shopkeepers have to be vigilant and ask young people for their age.
"It's a simple check. They just have to ask for valid photographic proof of their age.
"If not they might end up selling to a young person and facing legal proceedings.
"It's important to understand the statistics behind this. We have to protect young people."
Odera has run the shop along with his wife and two sons for four years. He promised to check ID in future.
Magistrate Janet Witby said: "With the busyness of the shop you overlooked this case.
"We hope by coming into court today this will be a sharp reminder to you.
"You need to show diligence when working in the shop."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Kettering
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
