The owner of a shop in Lincoln has been found guilty for selling cigarettes to under 18s.
Mr Sinan Karaaslan (59), owner of Monks Road Snack Bar, 23 Monks Road, Lincoln, was found guilty (Monday 7 October) of selling cigarettes to a 17 year old.
Following complaints from local residents, officers from Trading Standards undertook a test purchase operation in March 2019. During the test purchase, Mr Karaaslan did ask for identification but when the young person was unable to produce any – he sold cigarettes to them anyway.
Dan Brown, senior trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "For the past 16 months, we've tried hard to work with Mr Karaaslan, giving him comprehensive age restricted sales advice in an attempt to prevent illegal sales of cigarettes from his business, including implementing a Challenge 25 policy and staff training.
"Our test purchase was to see if he had implemented this advice, and he clearly hadn't. Despite receiving only a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £520, I was pleased to hear today that Mr Karaaslan has said he's not going to sell cigarettes anymore. Trading Standards take the sale of tobacco products to children extremely seriously and this prosecution should serve to remind retailers of their legal responsibilities".
If you'd like to report any underage sales, contact the Citizens Advice Service on 0345 404 0506.
For more information about the work Lincolnshire Trading Standards does, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards