Seven knives sold to boy, 16, in undercover sting at Merry Hill shopping centre
A 16-year-old was able to buy seven knives from shops within Merry Hill shopping centre, despite it being illegal to sell the items to anyone under 18.
An undercover operation by West Midlands Police revealed the 16-year-old boy was able to buy a pack of six serrated steak knives from Poundworld and a Jasper Conran knife from Debenhams.
The purchases were made by a volunteer working undercover for trading standards and West Midlands Police as part of Operation Sceptre – a week-long campaign to re-educate retailers about the dangers of selling knives to underage customers.
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As part of the scheme, the teenage boy entered TK Maxx, Poundworld, Poundland, Asda, Debenhams and Marks & Spencer in Merry Hill on Wednesday night.
Out of the shops visited by the youngster, who was watched by the undercover team of police officers and trading standards staff, Debenhams and Poundworld sold the knives to him.
The packaging clearly stated that they should only be sold to those aged 18 and above. The youngster was not given ID and was told to say he didn't have any.
Once the boy left the shops, police swooped in to tell the stores what had happened and advised them of the law surrounding the selling of bladed articles to teenagers.
Shops that successfully prevented the 16-year-old from buying the knife were TK Maxx, Poundland, Asda and M&S.
A spokesperson for Poundworld said: "We're currently conducting an investigation, and as a result, cannot comment any further at this stage."
A Debenhams spokesman said: "Debenhams has a strict policy on knife sales and regularly reinforces this with staff. In this instance this policy was not followed. We take this very seriously and are reviewing internally to ensure this does not happen again."
Chris King, of Dudley trading standards, said: "The stores who sold the knives will now be more vigilant in the future, in making sure that knives do not get into the wrong hands and that youngsters are kept safe."
Sergeant Adam Austin said: "Now that we've highlighted the issues to the stores, this gives them chance to retrain to prevent it from happening again."
