Tougher checks on knife sales fast-tracked after Southport attack
PA MediaPeople trying to buy knives online will face tougher measures to prove their age under new restrictions being brought forward in the wake of the Southport knife attack.
Axel Rudakubana, who has admitted murdering three young girls last July, bought a knife from Amazon when he was just 17, despite existing laws which prohibit the sale of most knives to under-18s.
Online retailers will be forced to ask anyone buying a knife for two types of identification under government plans, with buyers asked to submit an identity document, such as a passport, and record a live video to prove their age.
Amazon has said it takes its "responsibility around the sale of all age-restricted items - including bladed products - extremely seriously" and has launched an investigation.
In an opinion piece for The Sun newspaper, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote that it "remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives".
"The lessons of this case could not be clearer," he said.
"Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.
"And yet tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off the internet without any checks or barriers. A two-click killer. This cannot continue."
Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor for north-west England, told the BBC that anything that would make it more difficult for a violent offender to get hold of a weapon "should be welcomed", but it was important that the law was "properly enforced".
Stronger ID checks are one of the proposals from a review of online knife sales being carried out for the government by Commander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Chiefs' Council's lead for knife crime.
At present, customers ordering knives on Amazon, for example, are asked to enter their date of birth and told: "Proof of age and a signature will be required on delivery."
Cdr Clayman had been due to report at the end of this month, but the plans are now being brought forward and will be incorporated into the Crime and Policing Bill, due to be presented to Parliament this spring.
Sellers currently do not tell the authorities who they have denied selling a knife to, and so this information is not centrally recorded, former prosecutor Mr Afzal told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Afzal said he hoped the new regulations would include these stipulations, as well as a ban on deliveries when someone's age is unverified, a database of individuals who should be restricted from buying knives, and enhanced penalties for sellers who fall foul of the rules.
"The reality, of course, is that violent people will use whatever weapons they have, but when we talk specifically about knives, the easy access which particularly young people and people with violent histories have has to be addressed."
The government, which has pledged to halve knife crime over the next decade, previously announced new sanctions - including personal fines - for executives at tech companies which fail to tackle illegal knife sales on their platforms.
The last decade has seen a significant rise in knife crime, with the number of serious offences in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024 up 54% on the equivalent figure for 2016.
"The technology is there to set up age-verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online," Sir Keir wrote in the Sun.
"We must now use it to protect our children from future attack and I will ensure that this happens."
A spokesperson for Amazon said: "We use trusted ID verification services to check name, date of birth and address details whenever an order is placed for these bladed items.
"We have an age verification on delivery process that requires drivers to verify the recipient's age through an app on their devices before handing over a parcel containing an age-restricted item."
On Monday, on the first day of his trial, Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murder of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Commons it was a "total disgrace" that Rudakubana had been "easily able to order a knife on Amazon" despite his age as well as a prior conviction for a violent offence against another child at school.
He had also been referred to Prevent, the government's anti-extremism programme, on three separate occasions between 2019 and 2021 and admitted to carrying a knife more than 10 times.
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