Traders face sting in purge on knives

Published on Sunday 20 May 2007 00:39

TEENAGERS could be sent into shops to buy knives in a new crackdown on irresponsible traders.

Scotland's police-led Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) wants to introduce a test-purchasing scheme to try to break the country's knife culture.

It could see 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds asked to try to buy a knife, with traders supplying the potential weapons being reported and prosecuted. Shops caught selling knives to under-18s could then face hefty fines.

A similar scheme involving alcohol has been carried out in Fife to try to reduce underage drinking.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, who heads the VRU, said he believed the knife scheme would have a positive impact on supply.

He said: "There is an age limit on buying knives, so it is a way of testing those shops which are not responsible in how they sell knives and who they sell them to. If shops are made aware that we are going to be test-purchasing then perhaps they will pay a bit more attention to what they are doing.

"In areas where we have got problems with young men and knives - Glasgow for instance - then I think it is quite a legitimate tactic."

During 2004/05, there were an estimated 1,300 knife attacks in Strathclyde, according to reports.

The new scheme, which would need the approval of the Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini QC, would be the latest in a series of initiatives hoping to break the country's knife culture.

Last year ministers launched a high-profile anti-knife publicity campaign, as well as a nationwide knife amnesty.

Det Chief Supt Carnochan said if the test-purchasing scheme was approved, then it could be introduced early next year.

The Fife alcohol initiative lasted nine months.