Call for public drink ban dismissed

Cheshire Chief Constable Peter Fahy said he would like to see the legal drinking age raised by three years, as well as a smoking-style ban on drinking alcohol in public places.

But changing the legal drinking age limit was swiftly ruled out by the Government and the Tory Party and criticised by bodies representative of the lucrative drinks industry.

Home Office minister Meg Hillier said: "If we raise the age to 21, it's not going to stop people. It would demonise or prevent a lot of adults who are drinking quite responsibly." She added there were no plans for a blanket ban on drinking in public and it was up to local councils to decide what was appropriate in their area.

The minister said it was not a problem the government or laws could solve but was a matter of changing social attitudes. She also pointed the finger at "drunken pop stars" who set a bad example and said they "frankly should know better".

Conservative home affairs spokesman James Brokenshire said the solution was to give local communities more power over the operation of licensing and more visible community policing. He said: "Just having a 21-year-limit will not deal with the 11 and 12-year-olds who are binge drinking on a monthly basis and the 15 and 16-year-olds who are getting alcohol very freely."

He claimed the Government had failed by introducing licensing laws which had actually expanded the availability of alcohol and had not tackled issues of family breakdown. "Rather than getting the cafe culture they were promising, we are actually getting a violent crime culture," he said.

Mr Fahy suggested the drastic measures after claiming alcohol was fuelling a wave of violence and disorder across Britain and attacking parents for not controlling their children. He claimed alcohol was too cheap and too strong for young people to handle, and said a "hardcore" of parents were turning a blind eye with some even buying drink for their children.

The constable spoke out following the appearance in court of three boys charged with the murder of Garry Newlove. A fourth teenager, Adam William Swellings, 18, of Meredith Street, Crewe, appeared at Runcorn Magistrates Court charged with the murder and was remanded in custody.

Mr Newlove, 47, was attacked outside his home in Warrington, Cheshire, last Friday night in a confrontation with youths who had vandalised a mechanical digger. He died later in hospital.