London shops selling knives and alcohol to children as young as 13
Written by News on 14/09/2018
Knives, alcohol and tobacco are being sold to children as young as 13 by some shops in London, it has been revealed.
Child volunteers aged 12 to 17 performed 2,593 test purchases across the capital over 18 months – and they were allowed to walk away with the items on 285 occasions.
It is illegal to sell these products to anyone under the age of 18, with London Trading Standards said it was “disappointed” that underage sales were taking place.
The spot checks were carried out by 26 local authorities. In total, 14% of sales were of knives and 12% were of alcohol.
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Sean Yates said: “Knife crime devastates families and communities.
“Tackling knife and gang crime is one of the Met’s top priorities, and we are working closely with Trading Standards, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and retailers to do everything we can to prevent young people getting hold of knives in the first place.
“We are also targeting those who carry weapons and cracking down on online videos that glamorise and encourage this terrible violence.
“Everyone has a part to play in ending the deeply concerning rise in knife crime that we have seen across the capital and to spread the message that carrying a knife is more likely to ruin your life than save it.”
London Trading Standards is urging businesses to continue signing up to Responsible Retailer Schemes, and urged for anyone with information about illegal sales to get in touch.
The organisation said: “We are disappointed that a 13-year-old has been allowed to buy a knife in a London shop but we note the relatively high levels of compliance among the majority of retailers.”
The findings come as the capital has seen a rise in street violence, with the number of knife crimes rising.
Six teenagers were arrested in August after four boys were stabbed in south London.
Police said the victims were between 15 and 16, and confirmed that six teenagers, also aged between 15 and 16, were in custody.
(c) Sky News 2018: London shops selling knives and alcohol to children as young as 13
