The controversial owner of Crawley Town football club has been fined for selling alcopops to children.

Magistrates in Brighton convicted Azwar Majeed, 30, his company SA Retail Limited and two members of staff for selling bottles of WKD to two 16-year-olds at Mulberry Wines, Whitehawk Road, Brighton, last December.

Brighton and Hove City Council prosecutor Len Batten said there was no control system in place and only a cursory reference in staff guidance to under-age liquor sales.

It is one of a string of off-licences owner by Mr Majeed, who is facing a backlash from Crawley Town supporters who accuse him of mismanaging the club he bought last summer.

The city council and Sussex Police sent two 16-year-olds into the shop to carry out a test purchase. A council licensing officer witnessed a member of staff sell the alcohol without challenging the youngsters.

Just a month earlier the off licence had been issued with a fixed penalty notice for a similar offence.

Magistrates fined Mr Majeed and SA Retail £150 each and ordered them to pay £500 costs towards the council's legal fees.

Licensees Carla Manville, 28, of Steyning Avenue, Peacehaven, and Samantha Marmont, 37, of Penhurst Place, Brighton, were ordered to pay fines of £100 each and £125 costs.

Earlier this week Mr Majeed appeared before Worthing magistrates and denied a charge of assault.

Mr Majeed and his brother Chas were putting a brave face on their troubles yesterday afternoon when they hosted a meet-and-greet session with the boxer Mike Tyson at the Saqqara Bar in North Street, Brighton. The bar is one of several in Sussex owned by Azwar.

Earlier this week Chas was forced to step down as chairman of Crawley Town following a Football Association probe into revelations in The Argus that he is a non-discharged bankrupt.

It is against the rules of the game for a bankrupt to be involved in running a football club and also a criminal offence.

The brothers' woes were compounded by news that the Football Conference has imposed an embargo on transfers at Crawley Town over unpaid wages.

Chas Majeed insisted he would still work for Crawley Town. When asked what his new role at the club was, he said: "I'm just working in the office, doing admin and stuff."

He confirmed he had applied to have the bankruptcy order lifted.

The Argus understands his application will be fiercely opposed by Mr Majeeds's creditors.