Fake or False I.D? What you need to know.
Is that your ID that you’re showing the doorstaff?
Is it one you’ve borrowed?
Or…..perhaps one you’ve bought?
It is a criminal offence to use false or borrowed ID to gain entry to licensed premises or to buy alcohol.
Identity Documents Act 2010
Section 4
Possession of false identity documents etc with improper intention
(1) It is an offence for a person (“P”) with an improper intention to have in P’s possession or under P’s control—
(a) an identity document that is false and that P knows or believes to be false,
(b) an identity document that was improperly obtained and that P knows or believes to have been improperly obtained, or
(c) an identity document that relates to someone else.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or a fine (or both).
Section 6
Possession of false identity documents etc without reasonable excuse
(1) It is an offence for a person (“P”), without reasonable excuse, to have in P’s possession or under P’s control—
(a) an identity document that is false,
(b) an identity document that was improperly obtained,
(c) an identity document that relates to someone else,
(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine (or both), or
(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum period or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both).
What Does That Mean?
If you have in your possession a fake document, or a document that belongs to someone else, to trick members of staff into thinking you are older than you are so that you can enter a licensed premises, you are breaking the law, with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
Simply having such documents in your possession can result in a prison sentence of up to 2 years.