A 37 year old woman from Bellshill has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal after buying alcohol for her 15 year old child.

The child and his friend, also aged 15, was found drinking a bottle of vodka by plainclothes police officers from Bellshill as they conducted a patrol of the Viewpark area on Friday 27th January around 5.10. Officers seized the vodka and enquired of the boys who had bought it for them. It transpired that the vodka had been bought for them by one of the boys' mothers.

Inspector Hurry at Bellshill Police Office said:

"I am disappointed to find that a parent of any child would purchase strong alcohol like this for a young person and allow them to drink it in such circumstances. These young 15 year old boys were found in the Viewpark area and were drinking the alcohol in a public place. There was no supervision in place to ensure their safety and the type of drink they had was strong and highly inappropriate to give to any child.

"The age to be able to purchase alcohol is 18 and we will do everything we can to ensure off sales and bars are adhering to the law. We will endeavour to bring irresponsible adults to justice if we find they have purchased alcohol on behalf of a person under 18 years of age. I can confirm in this case that a 37 year old Bellshill woman, has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal in Hamilton.