Child is sold a machete as shops ignore age checks

AS many as one in four shops have been caught selling knives to children.

In one area a child was sold a machete, another bought a lock knife and a 14-year-old got a nine-inch blade.

In London, where 12 teens have been stabbed to death since Christmas, 96 shops sold knives to youths as young as 13 in 2016. Selling knives to under-18s is illegal.

The findings came from 725 test purchase ‘stings’ involving children sent in by trading standards officers and the police.

Four retailers, including a major supermarket, sold razor blades or craft knives to two boys, aged 15 and 16.

And in the South West, police found seven out of 29 shops sold a knife to a child. These included a machete, a lock knife, kitchen knives and a nine-inch serrated blade. It comes as official figures show there were 34,703 knife crimes between April 2016 and March this year.

The Local Government Association is calling for the retail industry to fund underage test purchasing operations. It said: ‘It’s vital that shops do all they can. Just one illegal knife sale could have tragic consequences.’