Scottish Christian.com

Home > News > Scottish Christian News Monitor

Call to tackle Buckfast 'disgrace'

A former Fife councillor has called on the makers of Buckfast to review how the tonic wine is sold in Scotland after the tragic death of a young man in Glenrothes last year, writes Craig Smith.

Michael Woods, who represented a ward in the town for over 15 years, has demanded action after the murder of 24-year-old Jack Wilde near the Glenwood Centre on August 4.

Mr Wilde was repeatedly kicked and hit with a Buckfast bottle by two teenage drinkers during the attack and died the following day.

In the wake of that tragedy, Mr Woods, a devout Roman Catholic, wrote to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor in a bid to convince him that action over the drink, was urgently needed to curb alcohol-fuelled violence north of the border.

Mr Woods asked the clergyman to “go the extra mile” in sorting out what he called “a disgrace to our Church” but, in reply, the cardinal said he would “bear in mind” what he had to say, and suggesting he wrote to Buckfast Abbey in South Devon.

The drink was first produced there in the 1890s by Benedictine monks.

Buckfast makers J. Chandler and Co refused to put measures in place, and Mr Woods believes authorities should put intense pressure on the firm to curb sales of the drink.

“It’s not just about consumption, it’s the smashed bottles you see around the place and the fact that they are being used as weapons,” he said.

“Following Jack Wilde’s murder, I decided to contact the press about work I have been doing for the past year or so to persuade the suppliers of Buckfast to rethink their marketing strategy for Scotland.

“They make millions of bottles of the stuff but I think if enough pressure is brought to bear then we can bring about changes.

“The initial intention of the monks was to make a tonic wine to be sold in modest volumes— things have dramatically changed and their product is causing untold damage to our youth and our Church.

“All alcohol is bad, but this stuff has destroyed so many homes and the fact that we have had a young man so tragically killed has really upset me.

“I call on the board of directors of J. Chandler to review their policy on the supply of Buckfast wine to Scotland and I call on the church authorities to face up to the hypocrisy of profiting from its sale.”

Adding that he personally would like to see the tonic wine banned in Scotland due to its association with teenage drinking, Mr Woods said the company should consider a number of options to ease the problems.

He suggested they consider measures such as making plastic bottles only, selling smaller sized bottles or increasing the product’s price.

In a letter to Mr Woods, Tony Joyce, director of J. Chandler and Co (Buckfast) Ltd, said the company was “saddened and dismayed” by the “sporadic abuse” its product is subject to in some areas.

But he stressed that the vast majority of Buckfast sold was “quietly and soberly” enjoyed by responsible customers.

“Your request that production of a perfectly wholesome and innocent product should cease is based on misplaced logic,” Mr Joyce said.

“You might just as well request the manufacturers of motor vehicles to stop production on the grounds that they cause motor accidents and road deaths.

“As you rightly say, if Buckfast were not there, some other alcoholic drink would take its place and be equally abused.

“In the end it comes down to the personal responsibility and choices of each consumer.”

Mr Joyce added, “The day that Scotch whisky comes to an end on the grounds of the undeniable damage it has caused both nationally and internationally then we would of course review our position.

“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the police and other agencies such as Alcohol Focus Scotland to control and eliminate the problems of under-age drinking.”

Mr Woods is not the only one to seek action to tackle the problems caused by Buckfast. The Rev Jon Gleason, minister of the Free Baptist Church in Glenrothes, has also expressed his concern in a local newspaper.

Mr Gleason said the wine was the “first choice” of many Scottish drinkers.

He criticised its makers for doing nothing to change its features or distribution pattern.

“The monks who make Buckfast tonic wine claim to be men of God, but their product is a tool of destruction which they willingly provide to those who horribly abuse it,” Mr Gleason said.

“We have a society that condones drunkenness, treats it as a joke, and even encourages it in students and other young people.

“Certainly, if Buckfast were no longer available, those who want to get drunk would simply choose another drink,” he said. “But that in no way lessens the responsibility of the providers of Buckfast, for it is inextricably linked with violent and drunken behaviour on the streets of Scotland.”

Full story at the Dundee Courier.

• Buckfast Tonic Wine is made by the Roman Catholic Community of Benedictine monks at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, and sold by J. Chandler & Co (Buckfast) Ltd of Andover. Thanks, guys.