Shop warned after knife sale to minor

Fordbridge corner shop warned after knife sold to minor in sting operation

Tom Cramp - Local Democracy Reporter | Wednesday 19th April 2023 8:31am

A shop in Fordbridge has avoided having its licence revoked after it was caught selling a knife to a 17-year-old last year. Margarets Store on Camplea Croft was the subject of a sting operation set up by Solihull Trading Standards and had its licence reviewed this week.

The incident took place in October 2022 when officers recruited two 17-year-old female volunteers and sent them into Margarets Store to buy a craft knife. They were able to do so unchallenged.

Solihull Council licensing committee met on Monday (April 17) this week to discuss the next steps for the store’s licence. It had received some support from the local community in advance of the hearing including one resident named John Simpson, who said Margarets Store is ‘very well-run by a very friendly family’.

Another neighbour, Antony Hickin, said: “As a consumer of this store I have only known the participants of the store to be respectful of the laws and regulations to the highest standards. I have seen on a number of occasions them challenging people for age identification which is good to see nowadays.”

West Midlands Police also made a statement prior to the hearing, which read: “The consequences of selling such products to juveniles also have a wider impact on the community (ASB-related incidents), the emergency services (being called to deal with the problems generated from such sales) and indeed the council who are now having to deal with the consequences of sale.”

During the hearing, councillors heard from a solicitor representing Margarets Store that staff had undertaken refresher training since the incident and that conditions proposed by the police were in the process of being put in place.

In its decision, Solihull Council said: “As the store had agreed the proposed conditions and the fact that there had been no previous review or warnings, the panel, on this occasion, decided to neither suspend nor revoke the premises licence. They did not feel it was appropriate to remove the designated premises supervisor (DPS) on this occasion and noted that the owners were looking to apply for a voluntary transfer of the DPS in any event.”

As part of its decision, the council said a number of conditions apply including a compulsory incident book must be kept at the shop and Challenge 25 signs must be clear throughout.

Other shops in Solihull were also caught in similar stings by Trading standards last year including Tiwana Supermarket in Chelmsley Wood, which sold vodka and a bottle of Sourz to a 15-year-old boy. In Kingshurst, Tanda’s Local was busted in September 2022 for selling Strongbow Dark Fruit cider to an under-18.

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