Related Articles
YOUNG kids are able to order deadly weapons with shocking ease from one of the world’s biggest online retailers – as Britain battles a raging knife crime epidemic.
A Sun Online investigation has discovered how e-commerce giant AliExpress – based in China – is flouting UK laws banning sales of knives to kids and using social media to advertise outlawed knuckle dusters and concealed blades.
11
11
11
And its shopping app – rated number two behind Amazon on Apple’s app store – has none of the age check red tape used by UK websites to meet the ban on selling knives to under 18s.
The astonishing loophole means we were able to buy a fearsome, eight-inch kitchen knife using the name, address and debit card of a schoolboy aged just 12.
Meanwhile, a lock knife illegal to carry in the UK sailed through customs before being delivered to a 14-year-old girl.
The shocking depth of Britain’s knife crime crisis was laid bare in a recent report, which saw crime involving blades or sharp instruments surged to an all-time high in 2019.
Around 44,771 offences were recorded in the 12 months to September – a 7% increase on the previous year. Almost half – 20,044 – were assaults causing injury or intending serious harm.
11
11
11
11
The 149 people stabbed to death in the capital last year was the highest for over a decade.
And the the number of kids caught carrying weapons at school has also skyrocketed – including some as young as four.
UK law forbids shops from selling knives to under 18s – unless the knife has a folding blade less than three inches long.
The rule – punishable by a £5,000 fine, six months’ jail sentence, or both – means responsible British websites ask shoppers to upload their ID, or undergo digital screening to prove their age.
But overseas sellers like AliExpress are ignoring the regulations – and the Home Office is powerless to act.
AliExpress is part of the global phenomenon ‘AliBaba Group’ based in Hangzhou, China.
Multi-billionaire founder Jack Ma is China’s richest man and was valued at $40bn (£31bn) on his retirement last September.
The e-commerce platform has customers in over 230 countries worldwide, and more than 20 million shoppers visit each day.
It hosts a multitude of retailers based in China, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Russia and carries 100 million products.
The store can be accessed by anyone – regardless of age – through a mobile app or via a deskstop website.
The site admits knife sales are permitted, but claims some weapons – including knuckle dusters – are banned.
Yet Sun Online found them openly offered for sale alongside stun guns for just over £5, deadly claw knives and push daggers costing less than £2.
11
11
11
Entering the search term ‘fighting knife’ into the site returns over 800 results, including scores of ‘karambit’ curved blades, used in Filipino martial arts.
We selected one on the iPhone AliExpress app and were invited to choose blade size and colour before adding it to our cart.
At the checkout, we simply entered the name and address of a 14-year-old, plus her Santander Bank debit card number.
There was no requirement to provide identification or even tick a box confirming over 18 status.
The folding £8.79 knife can be easily hidden in the palm of the hand. Its blade extends with a flick of the thumb but only retracts after pressing a catch, making it illegal to carry in public “without good reason”, according to Home Office guidance.
Patrick Green, CEO of anti-knife crime charity The Ben Kinsella Trust, says such blades can cause “gruesome damage” and has called for foreign online retailers to be held accountable to UK laws.
“Knives such as these bring misery and devastation to hundreds of families each year,” he says.
“It’s heartbreaking to think that they can be bought so easily through the internet. They are designed to maim and kill, and serve no other practical purpose.
“We need effective checks on all items shipped into the UK to ensure that they comply with our laws and regulations. Unless we do this we risk allowing deadly weapons to continue to be used on our street.”
Year’s deaths so far
JAN 1: Business studies student Isaiah Usen-Satchell, 18, was stabbed at around 4.20am in Sheffield.
JAN 1: Mark Roberts, 52, was knifed at a flat in New Brighton, Merseyside, at 10.25pm. Police later charged a man.
JAN 1: Helen Hancock, 39, and Martin Griffiths, 48, were stabbed in Duffield, Derbys. A man was charged.
JAN 3: Uber Eats worker Takieddine “Taki” Boudhane, 30, was killed at around 6.50pm near Finsbury Park, North London.
JAN 4: Boxer Mohammed Aman Ashraq, 18, was knifed in Slough, Berks. Two men were charged.
JAN 6: Oliver Wells, 18, was stabbed in Newhaven, East Sussex. A 16-year-old has been charged.
JAN 9: A murder investigation was launched after Darren MacCormick, 44, was killed in Didcot, Oxon.
JAN 15: Nasir Patrice, 17, of Birmingham, died in Leamington Spa. A 16-year-old has been charged.
JAN 16: A mum-of-two was stabbed in Newmarket, Suffolk. A man has appeared in court.
JAN 16: 53-year-old factory worker Robert Wilson was killed in Linthwaite, near Huddersfield. Two teens have been charged.
JAN 16: Student Cameron Blair, 20, was stabbed at a party in Cork, Munster. A teen has been charged.
JAN 19: Harinder Kumar 22, Narinder Singh, 26, and Baljit Singh, 34, were killed in Seven Kings, Ilford.
JAN 19: A boy of 17 was knifed in Southampton. A 15-year-old, from Andover, Hants, has been charged.
JAN 24: A Polish national in his 60s was stabbed in Clapton, North East London. A man has been charged.
JAN 26: Damien Bendelow, 20, died after being knifed in Liskeard, Cornwall. A man has been charged.
JAN 27: Louis Johnson, 16, was stabbed at East Croydon train station. A boy of 16 has been charged.
JAN 31: Liam Taylor, 19, died and another man was injured in a stabbing outside a pub in Writtle, Essex. A man has been charged.
FEB 1: A man of 53 died in Gosport, Hants. A man has been charged.
FEB 4: James Webb, 44, was knifed at home in Northfleet, Kent, on February 4. A man has appeared in court.
FEB 5: Babacar Diagne, 15, was stabbed to death in Coventry.
The blade arrived from Hong Kong in a padded envelope with a customs declaration describing it as a ‘kitchen tool’, and was delivered to a UK postbox by Royal Mail.
Knives can be intercepted at customs, and Border Force – responsible for policing goods entering the UK – seized almost 1500 in 2018.
We also used a 12-year-old’s card and name after searching AliExpress for a ‘kitchen knife’.
The term returns over a quarter of a million results and we chose one with an eight-inch blade, following the same checkout process as before.
Worryingly, the knife was dispatched by a UK firm – Simply Solutions – based in the West Midlands.
It arrived inside a polystyrene box wrapped in plain, grey packaging with no clue as to its contents and on a Royal Mail service with no signature needed.
Simply Solutions has admitted it stores and posts products for AliExpress retailers selling to the UK market.
“All the goods we store are cleared by customs and Trading Standards,” a spokesman says.
“We are not responsible for sales, and don’t open packages. We simply hold stock for our clients and they tell us where to post it.”
11
In a further concerning development, we were served Facebook ads from AliExpress touting dangerous weapons – in a clear breach of the company’s OWN rules.
They appeared as sponsored marketing in Facebook’s timeline with prices displayed in dollars.
Clicking an ad’s ‘Shop Now’ button linked us through to the AliExpress app to complete the purchase in UK pounds.
AliExpress says on its website: “Knuckle dusters, bladed hand-held devices and disguised knives are prohibited.”
But one Facebook ad was for a ‘self-defence ring’ with a razor-sharp, pop-up blade released at the press of a button.
In another, AliExpress cynically advertised a knuckle duster as a bottle opener costing less than £5 including delivery.
Clicking through to the app, a description of the ‘bottle opener’ read: “Multi-function tool as bottle opener, hex key and socket wrench.
“It is also a self-defense tool on knuckles.”
KNIFE CRIME SCOURGE
- There were 22,286 knife and offensive weapon offences in England and Wales in the year to 2019
- More than 14,135 knife-possession offences were recorded by courts and cops
- For 71 per cent of offenders it was the first knife possession offence
- Some 38 per cent of knife offenders were jailed immediately – up from 23 per cent in 2009
- The average length of sentences is now 8.1 months, up from 6 months in 2009
- London’s murder rate soared to 149 last year, the highest in a decade
- Ninety of the victims in the capital in 2019 were fatally stabbed
- Boris Johnson has pledged 20,000 new police officers to battle crime
New legislation – the Offensive Weapons Act – comes into force later this year and will oblige online sellers to place warnings on packages containing blades.
A Home Office spokesperson says delivery firms will also be liable to prosecution if they knowingly deliver knives to minors.
“Knife crime devastates lives and this government is confronting the problem,” the spokesman adds.
“Under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, we are making it an offence for delivery companies working with knife sellers – whether in the UK or abroad – to deliver knives to under 18s.”
Facebook said in a statement it had cut AliExpress’s ads after being alerted by Sun Online.
KILLER BUG
Coronavirus ‘super-spreader’ says he’s ‘fully recovered’ after infecting ELEVEN
HIGH ALERT
Schools tells kids to stay away over coronavirus as 2nd health centre shuts down
ROYAL SPLIT
Queen ‘upset’ as favourite grandson Peter Phillips separates from wife
ROYAL DIVORCE
Peter Phillips confirms divorce with wife saying it’s ‘sad but best for kids’
CIARA’S CHAOS
Heartstopping moment plane is blown SIDEWAYS by Storm Ciara at UK airport
A spokesman for AliExpress says: “As a third-party platform, AliExpress connects buyers and sellers around the world. While AliExpress does not take custody of the goods in the transaction, it does require sellers on its platform to comply with all applicable local rules and regulations in the markets to which they sell. We have a strong product listing policy that restricts the sale of weapons.
“In regard to the future sales of knives on the platform, we are developing a pop up notification for users with a UK address to confirm that they are over 18 before being able to complete their purchase.
“We will monitor closely and remain committed to providing a healthy shopping environment.”
