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Home | News & events | Legal updates | Knife sales: Undercover kids
Knife sales: Undercover kids
24 July 2008
The BBC reported that in the five years leading up to 2006 no-one was jailed for selling a knife to a child in England and Wales.
Update - A client has informed us that an "undercover" test purchaser, when challenged by the salesperson as to their age, lied in response, stating they were over 18. The sale then took place and an offence was therefore committed. This is permitted by the code of practice covering such activities. Staff should be trained accordingly.
Out of the 71 people convicted for selling knives to under 16 year olds most received fines of no more than £500 despite the maximum fine being £5,000 and only one person was given a community sentence.
Not surprisingly in the current climate following a spate of horrific attacks, the ways in which young people are obtaining knives is coming under increasing scrutiny as a considerable number of these stabbings involve teenagers. This has resulted in new guidance for police and prosecutors which mean that anyone over the age of 16 caught carrying a knife will now be prosecuted. In 2007 the Violent Crime Reduction Act increased the age restriction on selling knifes to make it a criminal offence to sell knives to persons under the age of 18.
Retailers can expect an increased focus by Trading Standards departments on the sale of all items containing a blade to anyone under age. All retailers should beware, that the use of “undercover “ test-purchasers aged under 16 to obtain age-restricted goods is a potent weapon being increasingly employed by Trading Standards officers across the country.
The Test Purchase Code of Best Practice provides the authorities with Home Office guidance on how to use this enforcement technique. The use of concealed tape recorders are permitted and in use.
Retailers should be aware of how best to safeguard against under-age sales, as well as the defences available. Although increasing numbers of retailers are falling foul of this technique, the case of Tesco Stores Ltd v. Norfolk County Council proves that such actions can be defended. In that case, Tesco was able to show a “due diligence” defence by demonstrating that all reasonable precautions were taken and sufficient systems were in place to successfully defend proceedings for selling a packet of cigarettes to an under-aged customer.
How to avoid prosecution
Employees should be trained before they are permitted to sell age-restricted goods. All staff should be aware of what constitutes an age-restricted product; not all such goods are labelled as such. Any instruments containing a blade, solvents, petroleum, fireworks or any type of explosive, age restricted DVD’s as well as alcohol and tobacco are restricted. The penalties for the sale of such products should be mentioned in the training. Frequently those who actually sell the product are considered for personal prosecution either as well or instead of their employers.
The following precautions will assist all retailers:
- Refresher training should be conducted regularly, as well as permanent reminders of the law at the till and on staff notice boards.
- Staff should be trained to call a manager or supervisor in case of any doubt over a customer's age and photographic proof should be demanded.
- No members of staff below the age of 18 should be permitted to sell such products.
- A till prompt mechanism to remind staff of age requirement on controlled goods.
- It is wise to place the products out of the easy reach of small children.
- A refusals book should be kept.
If it becomes necessary to defend against a prosecution based on the test-purchasing scheme, the defence of due-diligence might, depending upon the product in question, be available. In order for retailers to show that they had taken “all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence”, they must be able to produce documentation to demonstrate that their systems are properly supervised and regularly audited.
Although not an exhaustive list of measures that can be taken, the precautions mentioned above should help prevent any retailer selling unlawfully age-restricted products and a good chance of proving due diligence should a slip up occur.
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