Recently, Simon, a trading standards officer, set up an undercover sting to
catch a shopkeeper who was believed to be selling knives and solvents to
under-age children.
He went into the shop pretending to be a customer leafing through some
magazines. Then their young volunteer, a 15 year-old girl, came in and
bought a large Swiss Army knife. Simon immediately confronted the
shopkeeper, Mr Lucas.
The girl was wearing make-up and a big anorak and looked old enough. And,
anyway, I was too busy to ask her age. There was a sign by the display
saying we don’t sell particular items to anybody under 18 and I assumed she
would have read that.
Simon warned Mr Lucas:
Retailers have a responsibility to do more than just assume customers will
have seen their signs about under-age restrictions on selling certain goods.
You should display a warning in a prominent place to the effect that, if you
feel customer is not old enough for the product asked for, you have the
right to ask for proof of their age.
When the case went to court Mr Lucas was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay
costs by a local magistrate. In giving evidence in court, the trading
standards officer explained that this was part of a concerted campaign in
collaboration with local councils and the Home Office to crack down on
under-age sales.
