Sydney dad Andrew Gill in fight to change alcohol laws after losing 14yo son

A legal loophole is allowing kids to steal alcohol – with tragic results in some cases. See how a 10-hour booze spree led to a teen’s horrific death.

Sydney father Andrew Gill is fighting to change laws that allow unaccompanied minors in bottleshops after he lost his 14-year-old son Josh, inset. Picture: Tim Hunte/Supplied.

In the 10 hours before his horrific death, trapped alone and drunk in the back of a stranger’s burning car, 14-year-old Josh Gill walked into three bottle shops and stole alcohol.

He was well known in his social circle for being able to steal booze – and get away with it.

In the hours leading up to his death on August 15, 2021, police say he went into three bottle shops stealing a 24-case of Vodka Cruisers, two bottles of Johnny Walker Black Label Whiskey and two 10 packs of Jim Beam Black cans.

Josh Gill, 14, died in a car fire after a 10-hour booze spree. Picture: Supplied

According to a police statement to the Coroner, his modus operandi was to “simply walk into the store”, before picking up what he wanted and walking out.

Police said some of the thefts were never reported.

Now his father Andrew Gill 48, a Sydney lawyer, is campaigning to close a loophole in the law that allows unaccompanied minors to enter licensed premises, and wants tougher penalties for venues that don’t protect their goods adequately or report thefts.

Josh Gill ‘s father Andrew is fighting to change a legal loophole that allows unaccompanied minors into bottle shops. Picture: Supplied

As a parent he says he will always blame himself for Josh’s death.

But he also blames the poor laws and lax regulation for the fact his son, who had mental health issues, was drunk on the night he got into the back seat of a parked car in a driveway which then caught alight.

“My son Josh died in horrible circumstances,” Mr Gill said.

“He died alone, in a dark car, which caught fire at around 1.40am – he unknowingly entered a car with child locks engaged and with flammables in it; he could not escape, and he screamed for me to save him in his final moments.

Josh Gill was captured on Snapchat entering a Bottlemart.

“He was intoxicated and had lost control of himself; he had brazenly and too easily shoplifted alcohol from three packaged liquor licence venues on the Northern Beaches in the 12 hours before his death,” he said.

“These venues had little to no shoplifting precautions and the current law does not prohibit unaccompanied children entering these venues at any hour of the day or night. This is just madness.”

Andrew Gill, father of Josh, outside a BWS Store where his son used to steal alcohol. Picture: Tim Hunter

Mr Gill said thefts by minors from licensed venues in his Northern Beaches LGA runs at approximately twice the NSW average.

But he said the issue is a national one, citing the fact that there are bottle shops everywhere and kids are sharing tips on TikTok on how to steal alcohol.

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This dad wants to change #bottleshop rules after son, 14, goes on booze #theft spree before horror death. @dailytelegraph #shoplifter#mentalhealth

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There are about 50 in a 5km radius of where he lives – one is 25 metres from a primary school.

A police statement acknowledged Josh had been stealing from BWS, Liquorland and other outlets across the peninsula in the months before his death. No charges were ever laid.

Josh Gill stole alcohol from BWS, Balgowlah.

The teen also stole from Liquorland, in Collaroy.

Mr Gill is calling for urgent action as a matter of public safety and feels so strongly he is considering taking on Health Minister and Liberal MP Brad Hazzard’s for the seat of Wakehurst at the next state election, in order to make change.

He said in particular he believes his local BWS in North Curl Curl should take action to better secure its goods, with bottles of spirits within reach of the entrance.

Mr Gill said his son was a smart, but sensitive boy, whose mental health deteriorated during the Covid lockdowns and after being bullied at school. He turned to alcohol and inhaling aerosol cans, as a form of escape.

Mr Gill said he was physically unable to stop Josh. He said his son would go to the top of their three storey home jump off and then run down the road to the bottle shop and shoplift alcohol.

“We would drive after him and try and stop him – we couldn’t,” Mr Gill said.

He said he went into bottle shops across the peninsula giving managers his number, asking them to call him if Josh walked in, in a desperate attempt to keep his son safe.

At other times he followed Josh, made him return alcohol or returned it himself if he found it.

Andrew Gill says it is too easy for kids to shoplift from bottle shops. Pictured, BWS in North Curl Curl where Josh was able to steal booze. Picture: Tim Hunter.

A spok​​esperson for Liquor & Gaming NSW said it will soon release a discussion paper inviting feedback from the public on potential options for reforming the existing liquor licensing system and it regularly conducts overt and covert inspections of licensed businesses, including bottle shops, to ensure young people’s IDs are checked, to prevent minors from buying alcohol.

A spokeswoman for Endeavour Group, which represents BWS, said its policy is to check the ID of anyone who looks under 25 and ask them to leave if they are under 18.

“We have an extensive set of preventive security measures in our stores to deter thefts, which also assist police on the rare occasion that crimes occur,” the spokeswoman said.

In some stores some of the measures include multiple high definition CCTV cameras, motion detectors, radio frequency tags on premium products and duress alarms.

All known thefts are reported to police.

Mr Gill said spray paints are kept behind locked cabinets in Bunnings to stop kids graffitiing, alcohol, especially spirits, should also be locked away.