Heavy fines for retailers soon for selling knives to underage

Retailers in England and Wales could be fined up to £1 million for selling knives to children as per draft sentencing advice published on Wednesday (1).

The guidelines distinguish between individual shop owners and larger retailers who fail to enforce safeguards preventing the sale of knives to under-18s, either in store or online.

Retailers with a turnover equivalent to £50 million could be fined up to £1 million, while the operators of small shops could be fined up to 700 percent of their weekly income, Sentencing Council said. The proposed guideline for individuals provides for a range of non-custodial sentences as well, from discharge to high-level community order.

There are currently no sentencing guidelines for selling knives to minors. Prosecutions are overseen by Trading Standards and dealt with in magistrates’ courts.

The Sentencing Council, which published the advice, said that while it did not expect sentences to change for most offenders, but large organisations could see higher fines under the proposals.

Fines handed down to individuals between 2016 and 2020 reportedly ranged from £34 to £6,000, while nearly 90 organisations received fines between £150 to £200,000.

The new guidelines, which apply in England and Wales, would ensure the courts took a consistent approach to sentencing for knife sale offences, the council said.

 “Selling knives to children can lead to very serious consequences,” reports quoted Sentencing Council magistrate member Jo King as saying.

“There is the risk of serious physical harm to the children who buy these knives and to other people as well as the risk of wider social harms associated with the circulation of weapons among children.

“A child purchasing a knife is also at risk of prosecution for possession of the knife.

“It is important that all possible safeguards should be put in place to prevent the sale of knives to children, and that the penalties for organisations are substantial enough to bring home to both management and shareholders the need to operate within the law.”

The consultation on the guidelines will run until August 24.