Scottish ministers call for UK-wide clampdown on online knife sales
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Version 0 of 1. Scottish ministers are pressing for a UK-wide crackdown on internet sales of dangerous knives after the killing of the Aberdeen schoolboy Bailey Gwynne. Michael Matheson, the Scottish justice secretary, has approached Home Office ministers asking for a cross-government effort to toughen up restrictions on online knife sales, after an official investigation into lessons from the case. His killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, bought a folding knife with an 8.5cm blade for £40 from Amazon and avoided the mandatory age check by the courier by putting a note on his front door rather than accepting delivery in person. It is illegal to sell a folding knife to anyone under 18 if it has a blade more than 3in (7.62cm) long. Amazon says its couriers should verify the buyer’s age at the door. But a Guardian investigation found the same strategy worked in other cases, allowing underage buyers to sidestep checks. John Swinney, the Scottish education secretary, told the Scottish parliament there were already tough rules on knife possession and their sale in Scotland. It is illegal to possess a knife in a public place, including schools, without reasonable excuse. Possession is punishable by five years in jail or a £5,000 fine. It is illegal to sell knives or similar bladed products to under-18s, except for kitchen knives to those over 16. Shops selling non-domestic or kitchen knives in Scotland also needed a local authority licence. But these measures could not prevent someone buying dangerous knives online, Swinney said. Soon after the conviction of Bailey’s killer last March, the then home secretary Theresa May met high street and online retailers including Amazon to discuss stricter enforcement. Matheson has written to Sarah Newton, a Home Office minister, asking for a UK-wide strategy. “We can act to change the law in Scotland on the purchase of knives. But as the purchase and delivery of knives crosses the borders of all UK countries, it is clear that the impact of a change only in Scotland would be limited,” Swinney said. “The most effective way to ensure more robust controls are in place would be through UK-wide action.” A crackdown on online knife sales was supported last year by the Tory MP David Burrowes, who said there should be a “triple lock” to prevent underage sales. It would include online age verification and follow-up physical checks on the buyer, as well as age verification when the knife is delivered. The 15-year-old who stabbed Bailey in October 2015 at Cults academy in Aberdeen had told police he easily sidestepped the courier’s age verification. He said: “You just leave a note on the door saying there’s no one in and asking for the package to be left in the shed.” Jailed for nine years after being convicted of culpable homicide, the teenager was also convicted of carrying knives and knuckledusters in school. His internet search history showed he had looked up “knife merchant”, “illegal knives UK” and “knuckleduster UK”. |