Face of Nation : One in five teens buying knives are not ID’d checked, tests find
More than 50% of online age-restricted purchases did not require proof of age, compared with 20% of bricks and mortar stores.
One in five teenagers buying knives in shops were not asked for ID during mystery shopper tests across the UK in 2018.
More than 50% of shoppers buying age-restricted purchases online, including knives, were not asked to prove their age.
More than 4,100 teens took part in secret audits of bricks and mortar stores last year, with homeware stores faring the worst under scrutiny.
A quarter (26%) of all secret shoppers were not asked for ID at homeware stores, while 15% managed to buy a knife without their age being verified at supermarkets.
Offences involving knives or sharp instruments increased by 6% in 2018 compared to the previous 12 months, with a decade-high of more than 730 homicides being recorded in England in Wales last year.
The North West and Midlands had the lowest rate of ID checks, with 21% of shoppers not being ID’d in 2018.
They were followed by East Anglia and the North East, in joint second place with 18% not being checked.
London was the most stringent, but still saw more than one in ten shoppers not being checked (13%).
Checks on purchases online are starkly worse compared to the high street.
Half (51%) of the 4,395 young mystery shoppers received age-restricted goods, including knives, they ordered online without being asked for proof of age.
Ed Heaver, director of Serve Legal, the leading provider of compliance auditing services who published the results, told Sky News the ‘gold standard’ retailers should aim for is ID checks being carrier out on 90% or more of customers, allowing for some human error.
Although the numbers of shoppers not being checked remains high, the most recent figures are an improvement on previous years.
