Morrison’s has been fined £1,000 for the sale of fireworks to an underage customer at one of its stores in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how trading standards watched employees Tracy Reid and Elaine Parsons sell TNT Space Explorer rockets to a 16-year-old boy without asking for identification.
The two women were assistants on the dry cleaning counter whose normal duties did not usually include the sale of age-restricted products such as fireworks except in the weeks leading up to November 5th.
Sheriff Nigel Morrison said the supermarket chain failed to exercise due diligence and found the company guilty of the offence.
“In the circumstances I do not consider that all reasonable steps were taken or that Morrisons exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence”, he said.
“The Home and Leisure Manager of the South Gyle store was prepared to accept that role-play, till prompts and a dedicated person on the fireworks counter were steps that could have been taken.”
Euan McSherry, who defended Morrisons at the trial, said the grocery retailer had improved staff training since the date of the incident.
