Vodka and vape sales ‘to children’ sees Bucks shop lose licence

A shop accused of selling vodka, vapes and tobacco to children has had its licence revoked by Buckinghamshire Council.

At least 65 complaints have been made about the Stoke Convenience Store at 59 Stoke Road, Aylesbury since 2022.

Most of these relate to underage sales, according to Trading Standards, which successfully obtained a closure order against the shop last month through High Wycombe Magistrates Court.

A review of the licence was then carried out by councillors on the council’s sub-licensing committee on 9 January.

During the meeting, shopkeeper Sivagnanam Pakeerathan ‘pleaded’ with members to let the business keep its licence, which was held by Mr Suthakaran Krishnapillai, the shop’s owner.

Speaking through a translator, he denied the shop had frequently made underage sales, but said it had ‘made mistakes’ and that his wife had sold a vape to an underage person on one occasion.

However, Cllr Phil Gomm told the meeting the shop had ignored warnings.

He said: “You asked us to treat you kindly, maybe not to revoke the licence. But you are asking us to trust you to not do what you have been doing.”

The meeting was presented with dozens of pages of complaints and witness statements about the shop serving minors and selling counterfeit goods, which were compiled by the council, Trading Standards and Thames Valley Police.

They include a police complaint that a bottle of vodka was sold to two boys in October 2024, as well as a mum’s harrowing account of seeing her daughter being stretchered into an ambulance in June last year after allegedly drinking vodka from the shop and collapsing outside McDonald’s.

Mr Pakeerathan ‘took over the shop’ in 2021 and said he was ‘deceived big time’ by the person who sold the store as he realised its daily takings were only around £300 – lower than he expected.

He told the meeting customers would request certain brands of illegal vapes and cigarettes.

Despite popular demand for the illicit goods, he claimed the Stoke Convenience Store ‘did not sell these items for the next year’.

However, he said this resulted in customers ‘deserting’ the business, resulting in ‘many problems’ and the Stoke Convenience Store being ‘unable to pay its bills’.

Mr Pakeerathan said the shop’s takings had since increased, but that the business had spent £100,000 on buying the shop and around £30,000 on refurbishing the premises.

He told meeting they therefore felt ‘trapped in the wrong place’.