Pub landlord, Anthony Wiazcek was fined and had his personal licence suspended after knowingly selling alcohol to 16-year-old Hector Eccles, who later died in a drink-drive crash in Burnley
A pub landlord who knowingly served pints of lager to an underage teenager who later died in a horrific drink-drive accident has been punished. Young farmer Hector Eccles, 16, lost his life in the crash after drinking five pints of strong lager before riding his Polaris Ranger Farmbike with a friend on March 30, 2024.
The court heard that landlord Anthony Wiazcek at the Roggerham Gate pub, in Worsthorne, Burnley, Lancs., had served him despite knowing he was underage. When Hector, under the influence, got on the bike to head home, he lost control along Extwistle Road and crashed into a field where he sustained fatal injuries.
Emergency services were summoned to the scene at 12.41am, but despite their best efforts, he could not be saved. A 17-year-old boy, from Burnley, who was also on the bike escaped serious injury.
Wiazcek, 65, who held the premises licence and was the Designated Premises Supervisor at the time and the sole person behind the bar that night, was taken to court charged with selling alcohol to a person under 18.
After a two-day trial at Burnley Magistrates’ Court, he was found guilty and hit with a £660 fine. Wiazcek, from Burnley, was also told to pay a victim surcharge of £264 and contribute £650 towards prosecution costs.
His personal alcohol licence was also put on hold for three months. The court was informed that Wiazcek had known Hector since he was a child, even taking him to football matches when he was younger, and knew he was under 18.
In a heart-wrenching victim personal statement, Hector’s mum Wendy Eccles said her life has been “destroyed beyond repair”.
She said: “The day Hector died I died with him. We don’t live our lives now we just exist.
“How do you carry on when your whole world has been taken from you in one night due to lack of duty of care?
“And you know that this could have been avoided if duty of care was practised that night.
“Hector never got the chance to take his GCSE ‘s never attending his school prom.
“We are having to live through the milestones, watching his friends grow and achieve things, forever thinking what would Hector be doing now.
“I am just a hollow shell wanting my old life back every minute of every day.
“I have gone from loving my life to just watching the clock waiting for the day to be over.
“When I go into Hector’s bedroom, I feel every bit of grief flowing through my body I feel panic like you can’t imagine knowing that he’s not coming home.
“Every morning I wake up and feel like I have been hit by a train. I don’t like going out of the house seeing people I just walk looking at the floor hoping people won’t stop me.
“Hector’s dad has never slept more than an hour since that terrible morning. He didn’t come to bed for 12 months just stayed in the chair which resulted him to have slip disks in his back and lost two stone in weight. Which resulted to medical attention being needed.
“I can never go out of the house when children are going to school and coming home from school as I just break down thinking that should be my boy. Hector was a happy schoolboy loving life.
“How can we carry on building up a business like we have for years for Hector? As farming was all Hector wanted to do and was extremely passionate about it.
“How do we carry on seeing other boys doing Hector’s job. My heart had been smashed and will never be repaired.”
Steve Dundon, Licensing Sergeant for Burnley, Rossendale, Pendle and Ribble Valley, said he “welcomed” the outcome of the trial.
He said: “While nothing will bring back Hector, this incident serves to highlight the reasons the sale of alcohol is strictly controlled and the consequences that can follow irresponsible sale.
“We will continue to work proactively with licensed premises to ensure compliance, and we will not hesitate to take enforcement action where those responsibilities are ignored.”