Date: 16 July 2006 15:21

11-YEAR-OLD BUYS KNIFE IN UNDERCOVER OPERATION

A shock undercover operation by Cambridgeshire Trading Standards has 
revealed around a quarter of stores visited sold knives to youngsters aged 
as young as 11.

 Just a week after the end of a nationwide knife amnesty Cambridgeshire 
County Council Trading Standards found shops willing to sell blades, as long 
as six inches, to children.

Youngsters aged from 11 to 15 visited shops across Cambridgeshire with 
Trading Standards officers. Out of 20 visits 5 stores sold knives to the 
youngsters - the legal age is 16. In St Neots that figure was three out of 
five.

Knives bought included steak knives, around 16cm/ 5 inches long and craft 
knives, used in crimes were people have been disfigured.

Staff at all the shops which sold the knives were spoken to by Trading 
Standards officers and warned about their actions.

Malcolm Taylor, Head of Programmes for Cambridgeshire County Council Trading 
Standards, said: "We are extremely disappointed that this many shops are 
selling knives to teenagers, especially when there has been so much 
publicity about knife crime. We talked to staff and managers in the shops 
which sold these knives and warned them about their actions. We will 
continue to carry out operations and prosecute those who flout the law. We 
and the Police have been working hard together to crack down on crime and we 
will continue to do so. There is no doubt that we all have a duty to keep 
knives off our streets and out of the hands of youngsters and traders must 
play their part."

John Reynolds