POLICE rounded up 29 under-age drinkers in Swansea city centre — and called their parents to take them home.
The crackdown, entitled Operation Nemesis Two, saw officers from the police, trading standards and Safer Swansea Partnership target youngsters who were suspected of carrying either fake or borrowed identification cards.
Door staff who work in one of the street's many bars alerted officers to potential offenders, who were then taken to Coastal Housing's Caf� Nisse where it was established if the youngster was carrying the wrong ID.
City centre co-ordinator Warren Williams said the operation was a huge success.
"From all the agencies' perspectives it went very well — it was a big success," he said.
"The whole aim of the operation was to take a multi-agency approach of tackling the issue of people under-age gaining entry to licensed premises using fake or borrowed identification.
"A lot of the children we caught were unaware that it is a criminal offence to carry someone else's identification and could potentially hinder their future job or university prospects — a lot of these things depend on a Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) check and we got that message across to the young people last night and their friends."
After the operation, Mr Williams also praised the co-operation of the parents who came to pick up their children.
"I would like to thank the parents who were very supportive of what we did," he said. "They were very understanding of what we were trying to do and we had one mother and grandmother come from Porthcawl who were very surprised about what Wind Street was like — it is an adult environment."
Of the 29 teenagers who were stopped by the police, 18 were females and 11 were males. Only one was found using a fake ID with all the rest found to have been borrowed. The majority were aged 17.
Swansea city centre inspector Cath Larkman, who co-ordinated Operation Nemesis Two, said: "The youngsters were subject to checks and given information regarding the effects of alcohol and the potential consequences of trying to pass fake or borrowed identification to door staff.
"It is the first time we have contacted parents to collect the young people from Wind Street itself and this was done to show them first-hand the environment that they were permitting their children to be in.
"They really took on board the fact that this was a constructive alternative to facing prosecution and obtaining a criminal record. In many cases, the officers present were thanked for taking this approach. A number of parents also expressed their shock at what Wind Street actually looked like at that time of night and now realise that it is a venue suitable only for adults, which was the key reason for choosing a location on Wind Street, rather than bringing the young people back to the police station."
Jeff Davison, of the Safer Swansea Partnership, said: "Dealing with alcohol-related crime and associated problems is a priority for the Safer Swansea Partnership and effective joint operations are frequently carried out to tackle the issue. Under-age drinking is not a new problem anywhere in the UK but it can lead to serious health problems for young people and can result in them becoming very vulnerable."
robert.goodman@swwmedia.co.uk
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