Dad refused beer after checkout joke

A father was refused alcohol at a supermarket checkout after an “over zealous” cashier overheard him joking about giving the beer to his young daughter.

Kieran O’Sullivan, 48, from Hove, was refused four cans of lager at a Co-op supermarket after cracking a joke at the checkout telling his 12-year-old daughter, “that’s your beer sorted.”, as reported by The Argus.

A cashier overheard the remark and demanded to see both his and the young girl’s ID.

Mr O’Sullivan, a teacher, told the paper: “I asked if she was kidding, but then she asked to see my daughter’s ID, which made me laugh.

“She said that by law, if you make a comment about purchasing alcohol for a child then they had to see both our IDs.

“I asked to speak to the manager but instead of using his judgement, he backed his employee up and said it was the law.

“I told them I was clearly not getting alcohol for my daughter and the law was all about judgement and about circumstances. But they refused.”

A spokesperson for The Co-operative Food said: “All our stores operate a Challenge 25 policy, where potential purchasers of age-restricted products who appear to be under the age of 25 years are asked to provide proof that they are 18 or over.

“This policy also applies to anyone who is with the purchaser at the time, if there is any possibility that the alcohol could be for consumption by a minor. If no proof of age can be provided, then the sale must be refused.

“On this occasion the young person accompanying the customer was unable to provide proof of being aged 18 or over, and so the sale was refused.”