LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Sunday said it would force retailers to implement stricter age-verification checks to stop children buying knives, in a tightening of policy days after a teenager admitted killing three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.
Axel Rudakubana’s knife attack in July was described last week as one of the most harrowing moments in Britain’s history by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and has triggered a public inquiry into the failings that allowed it to happen.
While that inquiry is expected to focus on why state institutions failed to act on warnings about the killer before his attack, attention has also turned to regulations around buying knives.
Current British laws require retailers to have an age verification system to prevent those aged under 18 from buying knives, but elements of those systems are not clearly defined.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper said in parliament last week it was a disgrace that Rudakubana, who was aged 17 at the time of the attack, had been able to buy a knife online.
On Sunday the government said it would now mandate that retailers check photo identification at both the point of sale and delivery, and that deliveries can only be accepted by the person who placed the order.
“It’s a total disgrace how easy it still is for children to get dangerous weapons online,” Cooper said in a statement on Sunday.
“It’s too easy to put in false birth dates, parcels are too often being dropped off at a doorstop with no questions asked.”
The measures will be included in a bill which is expected to begin the legislative process in parliament in the coming months.
(Reporting by William James; editing by Clelia Oziel)
