sale of knives on the internet to under 18s

(for England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

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The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (as amended by the Offensive Weapons Act 1996 and the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006) makes it an offence to sell knives, knife blades and razor blades to anyone under the age of 18. Sellers must ensure they do not sell such products to anyone under the age of 18 years. If they do make a sale to a person underage, they may be able to satisfy a ‘defence’ if they can show they took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence

The most practical minimum step that can be taken is to insist on payment by credit card as credit cards require the holder to be 18. It is not good enough to ask the buyer to simply tick a box saying they are over 18, or to use a general disclaimer stating that everyone must be over 18. The guidance is applicable to all goods that are subject to age restriction on supply such as alcohol and cigarettes.