ACS

The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers has insisted that parents must take responsibility for their children's behaviour and make sure they do not have access to alcohol.

Ken Jones' comments, on BBC Two's 'Newsnight', come as retailers are being threatened with tougher punishments if they are found to be selling alcohol to underage teens.

"We're discovering research which tells us around 50% of youngsters who abuse alcohol are getting it from within the family or family groups," said Mr Jones.
"So clearly there is a message there for wider society; it's not just about retailers, it's about families and communities as well."

The Conservatives believe stricter punishments should be handed out to teenagers themselves if they are found drinking or trying to purchase alcohol underage.

Mr Jones also suggested that the marketing of alcopops to youngsters has been partly responsible for the rise in antisocial behaviour and youth crime in the UK.

Ken Jones told BBC Two's 'Newsnight' that police are seeing an "intensification" of violent disorderly behaviour in young people of a certain age group.

"Our view is they became habituated to drink in the mid 90s when the alcopops marketing began," he remarked.

"We've seen that relentless product development since and it's a sort of gateway marketing campaign and it has got a lot of our young people habituated to hard liquor.

"There is personal responsibility yes, but we can't just wash our hands of the context, and if we have a big often global industry that's pushing stuff in this way they need to take some responsibility for it."

Mr Jones' comments follow the publication of official figures which show that the number of under-18s admitted to hospital after binge drinking has risen by more than a third since 2001.