Oswestry shopkeeper fined for selling hand-rolling tobacco to 16-year-old

An Oswestry shopkeeper was yesterday ordered by Shrewsbury Magistrates Court to pay nearly £1,500 after pleading guilty to selling a packet of hand-rolling tobacco to a 16-year-old girl.

Ronald Lewis, aged 83, owns and runs the shop RK&MM Lewis in Upper Church Street, Oswestry. He was investigated and prosecuted by the Shropshire Council’s public protection team as the result of his selling hand-rolling tobacco in February 2015 to a 16-year-old girl who was acting as a volunteer for public protection officers.

Intelligence had been received by the public protection team prior to the exercise, indicating that minors were regularly purchasing tobacco products from this premises.

Grant Tunnadine, Shropshire Council’s investigations team manager for public protection, said after the case: “This should hopefully serve as an important reminder to all retailers who sell age- restricted products such as tobacco and alcohol to ensure they are satisfied that the buyer is old enough. In this case Mr Lewis did nothing to address the age of the buyer, who had been challenged for ID and refused in many other shops on the same day. It remains a priority for us to ensure that young people are not able to purchase tobacco products before they are legally entitled to.”

Mal Price, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for public protection, added: “The council is determined to play its part in reducing smoking, which includes preventing the sale of tobacco products to those who are underage. ‘Challenge 25’ is a very simple policy to adopt, and has proved to be a very effective method of preventing underage sales. Any customer who appears to be aged 25 or under should be asked to prove that they are legally old enough to purchase the tobacco. I would urge all retailers to adopt a Challenge 25 policy to ensure they only sell to adults.”