Discount store fined for selling knife to minor

Knife sold illegally to underage customer

A Rochdale discount store has been prosecuted by Rochdale Borough Council for illegally selling a knife to an underage customer.

Saf’s Pound Plus of Spotland Road pleaded guilty at Rochdale Magistrates court on the Tuesday (21 September 2010) to selling a knife to a minor in February this year.

The shop’s owner Mr Safeer Ahmed, 46, received a conditional discharge for 12 months and was ordered to pay costs of £1,234.75 for breaching the Criminal Justice Act (1998).

Dale Mulgrew, Cabinet Member responsible for Community Safety at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This is an excellent result. Traders need to realise that we take illegal underage sales very seriously and if caught we will look to prosecute. It’s an important part of ensuring the health and wellbeing of young people and the community. This is the second successful prosecution we’ve gained this month against irresponsible traders; let’s hope they’ve learnt their lesson.”

The sale took place during a council’s routine undercover survey, carried out by Rochdale Borough Council’s trading standards team, in which an unpaid volunteer was able to purchase a knife from the store despite being underage. When making test purchases, volunteers must always tell the truth about their age, if asked.

Since 1 October 2007, it’s been illegal to sell knives to anyone under 18 years old.

Undercover test purchases are carried out by local authorities using underage volunteers as part of the enforcement of this legislation. All operations of this nature are conducted in accordance to strict guidelines designed to protect the young volunteer whilst being fair at all times to the trader.

It is a criminal offence to sell a knife, axe or blade to a person under the age of 18. The maximum penalty upon conviction of selling a knife to a minor is £5,000 or up to six months imprisonment.

Andy Glover, Trading Standards Manager at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Our test purchase exercises are crucial in helping us take action against retailers who sell knives irresponsibly and illegally. Our advice to retailers is that they should always ask to see photographic identification that proves the customer’s date of birth if they are unsure of the person’s age.”