It is easier for children to buy knives than it is to purchase paracetamol a police review has concluded.
The damning assessment came as the government launched a crackdown on the sale of bladed weapons to under-18s as part of a series of new anti-knife measures.
Tougher prison sentences will be introduced for selling knives to under-18s and retailers will be obliged to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives that could then be sold on via social media.
Collectively the new measures will be known as Ronan’s Law, in memory of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda who was stabbed to death in Wolverhampton in 2022 in a case of mistaken identity.
His mother Pooja Kanda told Sky News: “What a legacy to have in my son’s name.
“Ronan will live on, he will live on making the difference that the laws exist, that’s a legacy.”
On the morning of the attack, his teenage killers had picked up their online delivery of a machete and a ninja sword.
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Ms Kanda continued: “The murderer of my son just was getting these type of weapons and selling (on social media)
“How scary is that?
“He was able to get them freely on his mother’s ID and mother’s bank account and then he was selling it for more profit to other children.”
Metropolitan Police Commander Stephen Clayman, who is the national lead for knife crime, said it is sometimes harder to buy paracetamol than it is to buy a knife.
Mr Clayman said: “The age verification is a huge vulnerability, both in terms of at point of sale and at delivery.
“We know that through the tragic stories we hear and have heard, but it continues that there are huge flaws that need to be addressed.”
“Bizarrely, it is harder to buy paracetamol in some respects than it is to buy a knife. And that can’t be right,” he said.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Everyone has to take responsibility.
“We cannot continue with this online free for all. That makes it too easy with these lethal loopholes of selling knives and dangerous weapons to children.
“It has to be closed. And that’s why we need everyone to act.”
Ronan’s mother backed the government’s strategy but said far more needs to be done across society.
She vowed to hold politicians to their promises and continue fighting on behalf of her son for the rest of her life.
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“My last breath is dedicated to Ronan, I will continue to fight for my son and to make sure that what has gone wrong is corrected.
“I will die doing that for my son.”
