THE drunken antics of popular celebrities – as shown in the media – are fuelling wider problems of alcohol misuse, the boss of a major pubs chain claimed yesterday.
JD Wetherspoon's chairman, Tim Martin, said there was "rightly considerable concern" over the yobbish behaviour of a minority – but added that the police were wrong to focus on under-age drinking when the problem was mainly cultural.
He said: "Thi
s is demonstrated by examples of poor behaviour by a number of celebrities during the recent televised Brit Awards and by habitual drunken celebrations in the context of sporting events and other occasions, which then receive huge press coverage.
"This sort of behaviour is not a new phenomenon, and is frequently replicated by the general public at birthday parties, stag and hen parties and so on."
Mr Martin believed that poor behaviour was bad news for the pub trade as it was intimidating for most other customers.
"The correct approach for the authorities, in our opinion, is to concentrate on the message that pubs and drinking are legitimate activities, but they bring an obligation to behave responsibly," he added.
He voiced his concern that the impact of last year's smoking ban in England and cost pressures led to a 13 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £28.5 million in the six months to 27 January.
The full article contains 233 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
