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Does an ID have to be in date to accepted as a valid defence in the sale of alcohol?

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  • 21-05-2021 3:26pm
    #1
    Jeremy Sproket
    Registered Users Posts: 431 ✭✭


    I witnessed a girl being refused an alcohol sale in a supermarket today at the self service checkouts because her Garda age card was worn and the sales assistant noticed her passport card was expired.

    I was chatting to her outside. Her Garda age card was issued 10 years ago like mine so it was in bits, lamination peeling off it (the old styles don't seem to be very durable) and she said her passport card was expired by a week.

    Obviously the shop can refuse for any reason but if they were to sell would the acceptance of the expired passport be accepted as a valid defence in court?


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    #2
    GerardKeating
    Registered Users Posts: 7,542 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    Jeremy Sproket wrote: »
    if they were to sell would the acceptance of the expired passport be accepted as a valid defence in court?

    The only real valid defence is that the customer is over the legal limit.


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    #3
    athlone573
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭athlone573


    GerardKeating wrote: »
    The only real valid defence is that the customer is over the legal limit.

    Is it a strict liability offence?

    Not that I'm likely to be working in tesco anytime soon but good to know.


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    #4
    Jeremy Sproket
    Registered Users Posts: 431 ✭✭Jeremy Sproket


    athlone573 wrote: »
    Is it a strict liability offence?

    Not that I'm likely to be working in tesco anytime soon but good to know.

    That's what I want to know. If someone produced a valid Garda Age Card and a passport and convinced the salesperson that they were of age, but it turned out to belong to their lookalike older brother or sister, is there any onus on the sales assistant? Unfair if so.


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    #5
    Peregrinus
    Registered Users Posts: 26,141 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    The fact that the passport has expired doesn't really have much direct bearing on its value as proof of age. You don't magically become younger when your passport expires. If the expired passport is indeed yours, and it shows that you were born more than 18 years ago, then it is good evidence that you are (still) over 18.

    The concern a merchant might have is that the owners of expired passports don't really have any reason to hang on to them or look after them, and therefore expired passports might be more vulnerable to being "borrowed" by people who are under 18, but look somewhat like the passport owner. In other words, an expired passport is more likely not to belong to the person presenting it than a current passport is.


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