The monks of Buckfast Abbey have defended their product in a statement today saying it was “hard to see” how the wine could be “held responsible for all the social ills” of Strathclyde.
The possible link between the wine and crime emerged after a Freedom of Information request by BBC Scotland. Buckfast Tonic Wine was mentioned in 5,638 crime reports from 2006 to 2009, Strathclyde Police said. One in 10 of those offences were violent and the bottle was used as a weapon 114 times in that period leading to Supt Bob Hamilton, of Strathclyde Police, stating that is was “clear from the figures that there is an association there”.
Buckfast have issued a statement defending the wine, which its distributors say has just 0.5% of Scotland’s alcohol market “Has anyone considered that the misuse of this wine by some could be seen as a symptom rather than a cause of such problems?”
There have been calls for the wine to be banned by the EU, but South West Conservative MEP Ashley Fox said banning Buckfast would “destroy years of Devon heritage”. He said: “Do people honestly think that if Buckfast wine is banned, hooligans will start drinking tea?”.
