Is cheap booze to blame for murder in Wisbech?

With the report in the Wisbech Standard today that a jury found a man guilty of a drink-fuelled murder, is it time to call time on cheap booze?

Tomas Krasnovas, a Lithuanian worker living in Wisbech, was accused of killing Erikas Ulinksa in November 2011 after the two men argued over money being spent on alcohol rather than food. The argument escalated into a fight in a local park, resulting in Ulinksa receiving injuries that ultimately led to his death.

The two men had drunk 5 bottles of vodka and 15 cans of beer with another housemate before going out in search of more alcohol on that evening, and the report in the Wisbech Standard tells how Ulinksa could have survived his injuries if he then hadn't been abandoned in the park in temperatures below freezing.

Ultimately, too much booze created a dangerous situation that led to a man losing his life. Would all of the people involved made better decisions if they hadn't been drinking? Without a doubt. Would they have drunk less if the cost of the booze had been higher? Perhaps.

It's a sad story and one that has certainly made us all stop and think about how easy it is to buy too much, drink too much and then do too much or too little.

Is it up to the stores to raise prices or to control the level of sales? Or is it fair to say that they are just trying to make a living and that people old enough to buy alcohol should be responsible enough to control their drinking?