We bought this 15in machete online - with next-day delivery and no age checks
This is the fearsome 15in machete the Mirror was able to buy online with next day delivery and no age checks.
Our investigation found a simple online search for “hunting knife” or “machete” revealed a huge range of blades, many available with speedy delivery.
We bought the £69.95 Gator Bolo machete from the website of Allcocks Outdoor Store near Kidderminster, Worcs.
No age verification was carried out before or after the sale.
Bullseye Country Sport, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, sold us a Boker Magnum CSB machete for £31.99.
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It too was delivered the following day with no age checks.
Dangerous weapons like this are freely available online (SWNS)And this horrifying discovery comes after a Sunday Mirror investigation found that zombie knives were being sold to kids on 'pizza delivery-style' apps.
It comes as five separate machete attacks were carried out in just seven days.
Under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, it is against the law to sell knives – apart from short penknives – to anyone under 18.
Online retailers must also carry out age verification checks, clearly label packages to show they contain a “bladed article” that can only be handed to over-18s and ensure that couriers don’t hand them to children.
Patrick Green, of The Ben Kinsella Trust, said the blades we found for sale were “horrific”.
He added: “These are the kind of weapons we want to see banned or have severe restrictions on their sale.
“These blades are ending up on the streets and often, it is under-18s who use them.”
Rhamero West was stabbed to death in Manchester in 2021 (MEN Media)Kelly Brown, whose 16-year-old son Rhamero West was murdered by a Manchester gang in 2021, also urged the Government to take action.
The 47-year-old said: “These knives are killing people and it needs to stop now… 1000% they should be banned. They should not be allowed to be sold online.”
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Almost 40% of all killings are committed using a knife or bladed weapon.
In the last seven years, 173 youths have been fatally stabbed in Britain.
Currently, it is illegal to carry machetes and large knives in public but they can be kept at home.
The Government proposes to ban all large knives that are “not purchased for a practical use” and “designed with the intention to threaten”.
A seven-week consultation will now take place.
Allcocks manager David thanked the Mirror for highlighting the concerns around knives and said his staff were reviewing their internal systems.
Bullseye did not respond to a request for comment.
A shocking moment a man lunges at a rival with a machete in Manchester
The incident was outside a shopping centreSeven days of violence
Scenes like the above are becoming increasingly more common as the country is rocked by machete-related violence.
Five attacks have taken place in the last week alone – including this one on a busy shopping street in Manchester on Wednesday.
CCTV captured the terrifying moment a man with machete repeatedly hacked at another male. A 49-year-old was later arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Last Sunday, a 15-year-old boy suffered serious head injuries after being slashed with a machete in Leeds. And on Tuesday, a man in his 50s died after a gang wielding machetes rammed his car off the road and attacked him in Solihull.
On Thursday, a man in his 20s was attacked with a machete in Coventry.
And the following day, a 20-year-old man was attacked by three masked men with blades in an Edinburgh pub. Police are treating it as attempted murder.
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