13-year-old Gets Knives and Booze off the Internet

9.39.35pm GMT Mon 7th Nov 2005

A schoolboy ended up with six bottles of wine, a set of potentially lethal kitchen knives, a 'ripper' saw, and spray paint after online transactions over the Internet.

Despite the fact that It is illegal to sell knives to anyone aged under 16, no challenge was made while the items were bought from well known retailers using 13-year-old Richard Beckett's 'Solo' card. But the purchases were actually a sting set up involving Richard, Milton Keynes Council's Trading Standards Department and Richard's dad Andrew, himself a former Trading Standards officer from Milton Keynes.

And last week, they joined Trading Standards officer Claire Kendall as guests of honour at the launch of National Consumer Week at the Department of Trade and Industry in London. Andrew said: "I was amazed and horrified at how easy it can be for a young person to buy items that could be used as weapons, as well as alcohol, on the Internet.

"In one case the person delivering a kitchen knife block to our home actually gave it to Richard on the doorstep and obviously saw how old he was as he signed for it.

"This has to be a wake-up call to businesses to take their responsibility seriously and make sure that precautions are in place so that they do not sell age-restricted items to people who are too young."

Depending on which bank issues them, Solo cards enable children from as young as 11 to buy items off the Internet. Added Claire: "This should also be a reminder to parents to be aware of the vast range of products available to their children via the Internet. As well as the wine and knives, we were also able to buy products which, although not age-restricted by law, could still cause harm to a child. We bought a catapult which was able to propel missiles up to 60 metres."

Liberal Democrat Councillor Douglas McCall, Milton Keynes Council cabinet member whose responsibilities include trading standards, said: "Solo is a well recognised way for youngsters, aged as young as 11 in some cases, to buy items over the web - for example Pokemon trading cards and the like.

"But you would expect that retailers would have some kind of mechanism in place to check people's ages when they are buying using Solo.

"Our Trading Standards people - with the help of young Richard Beckett and his family - have done an excellent job in highlighting this gaping hole in safety precautions for items bought over the Internet."

Some companies do make it clear on their websites that the goods they are selling are not available to young people. Trading Standards officers were unsuccessful in ordering Lottery tickets from the National Lottery website (minimum age 16), chocolates containing alcohol from Hotel Chocolat (16) and fireworks from Fireworks.co.uk (18).

Other initiatives from the Milton Keynes Trading Standards team to mark National Consumer Week include:

• An interactive text messaging service, enabling consumers to text queries to Trading Standards, has been officially launched, following a successful pilot. This cheap and convenient use of modern technology provides another way for consumers to access expert advice about their legal rights. The aim is to make consumer advice more accessible to the under-25s. Posters are being delivered to every school, library and registered youth group in the city. To send a text message to Trading Standards, text MK TSD plus your query and send to 60003. Texts will be charged at network rates.

• Trading Standards are promoting the first 'No Cold Calling' zone in Milton Keynes to discourage dodgy doorstep traders. The work they do is often unnecessary, shoddy and very expensive, and when things go wrong the trader is often impossible to find.