Retailers could be fined up to £1 million for selling knives to underage customers under new draft sentencing guidelines. Two guidelines apply separately to individual shop owners and large retailers who fail to ensure that they have adequate safeguards in place to prevent the sale of knives to under 18s in England and Wales, either in store or online.
There are currently no sentencing guidelines for selling knives to minors, which is prosecuted by Trading Standards and dealt with in magistrates’ courts. Large organisations with a turnover or equivalent of £50 million could be fined up to £1 million, while individuals who operate small shops could be fined up to 700% of their weekly income.
The council said that while it did not expect sentences to change for most offenders, large organisations could see higher fines under the proposals. Fines handed down to individuals between 2016 and 2020 ranged from £34 to £6,000.
