Amazon has launched an “urgent” investigation after triple murderer Axel Rudakubana was able to order a knife which he then used to stab young schoolgirls.
Despite having a previous conviction for violence and being under the age of 18, he succeeded in purchasing a 20cm Cerbera knife using encrypted software to hide his address on 20 July, just days before he carried out his attack in Southport on 29 July.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs it is a “total disgrace” that Rudakubana, then 17 and with a history of violence, was able to buy a weapon online and promised new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill this spring.
This could see retailers forced to ask anyone purchasing a knife for two types of identification, such as an official identity document and a live video to prove their age.
Writing in The Sun, Sir Keir said: “It remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives. The lessons of this case could not be clearer.
“Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.
“And yet, tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off of the internet without any checks or barriers. A two-click killer. This cannot continue.
“The technology is there to set up age verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online.
“We must now use it to protect our children from future attack and I will ensure that this happens.”
An Amazon spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility around the sale of all age-restricted items - including bladed products - extremely seriously and have launched an urgent investigation in relation to this tragic case. We use trusted ID verification services to check name, date of birth and address details whenever an order is placed for these bladed items.
“We have an age verification on delivery process that requires drivers to verify the recipient’s age through an app on their devices before handing over a parcel containing an age-restricted item.
“Our conditions of use and sale make clear that anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed to set up an Amazon account or make purchases. The product in question was subject to age verification checks on delivery.”
Rudakubana was reported to Prevent three times between 2019 and 2021 but the Home Office established each referral “should not have been closed”, the home secretary said as she branded him responsible for “one of the most barbaric crimes in our country’s history”.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space.
