Jarrow teenager calls for rapid alcohol deliveries action following her cousin’s death
A Jarrow teenager is calling for action to end rapid online alcohol deliveries following the death of her cousin.
An 18-year-old from Jarrow is calling for urgent action to tackle rapid online alcohol deliveries after her cousin died following years of alcohol addiction and mental health challenges.
Anissa Khalfa says her cousin Tom Greest, who died in March 2025 aged just 33, was able to order large amounts of alcohol through rapid delivery apps.
Tom’s death has prompted Anissa to work alongside Balance, Alcohol Change UK and the Alcohol Health Alliance to call for stronger safeguards to protect people at risk of alcohol-related harm.
‘There was absolutely no safeguarding at all’
Anissa has explained that her family campaigned in vain to halt online alcohol deliveries getting through to Tom while he was alive and even contacted the companies directly to ask them to stop.
Speaking after his death, Anissa said: “Tom suffered with alcohol addiction for a couple of years before his death, worsened by his own mental health problems.
“He was like an older brother to me and seeing him struggle was extremely difficult, especially as the alcohol made everything much worse for him.
“He was obtaining large amounts of alcohol at different times of day and night – often two or three times a day.
“He was obviously intoxicated when alcohol was delivered, and at no point to my knowledge was he ever refused.
“It would have been harder for him to go into a shop or a pub to buy alcohol in the same way like that.
“There was absolutely no safeguarding at all, and it was killing him.
“At one point we found around 60 wine bottles in his house.
“He had a good job so money wasn’t an issue to him – he would just order more via the same apps but through different suppliers.
“Despite trying to find ways to block the deliveries, we could never access his account.
“When family, friends and doctors know that somebody is seriously ill from alcohol, there should be a right on these apps to be able to impose a block.”
‘We don't want others to go through this’
Anissa has stated that her family don’t want others to suffer the pain that they have and highlighted that online alcohol deliveries will be putting the lives of many across the country at risk.
She added: “I still feel bitterly angry though and wonder what would have happened had he not fallen into the online delivery trap which ended his life far too young.
“For people like Tom life is hard.
“There are millions of people struggling with alcohol related illness, and all around them are adverts and temptations to drink, from ads on the TV to piles of bottles at the front of supermarkets.
“We don't want others to go through this – but at the moment there will be thousands of others struggling with alcohol where online deliveries are putting their lives at risk.”
End the Delivery Trap Campaign
Through its ‘End the Delivery Trap’ campaign, Alcohol Change UK is calling for the following measures:
You can find out more online at: https://alcoholchange.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/end-the-delivery-trap.