A mum and dad have been left angry after a rusty retractable knife fell out of one of the boxes containing a Christmas present for their two-year-old daughter. Martin Sexton and fiancée Kelly Francis were unwrapping presents with their two young children when the knife fell out of the box.
Martin said he managed to grab it before daughter Maggie, two, put it in her mouth. Martin, 36, and Kelly, 31, then spent Christmas Day trying to contact the vendor, who has promised to investigate, reports NorthWalesLive.
Martin, originally from Caernarfon, Gwynedd, said: “It could have been horrific. As both our children are autistic, we have to be particularly vigilant when opening boxes that contain plastic ties. Parents with more developed children might have just let them get on with opening their own presents.”
Martin and Kelly had been looking forward to spending Christmas at home in Brackley, Northamptonshire, with Maggie and Archie, three. They’d begun unwrapping a huge pile of presents that included a yellow Peppa Pig campervan for Maggie.
“We were keeping a close eye on the children,” said Martin, a poultry welfare officer. “But when something fell out from a void in the cardboard packaging, initially I thought it was just a plastic component.
“As Maggie reached for it, I saw it was a blue knife. The blade was rusty and the retractable blade didn’t have a safety catch, so it could just slide in and out.
“I managed to grab it just before Maggie did. It was just as well I did, as it’s pretty likely Maggie would have put it in her mouth.
“Kelly was absolutely furious. Had Maggie put it in her mouth it’s very likely we would have had the Army rushing her to hospital in an ambulance.”
Sharing photos of the knife on Facebook, Kelly said the incident had left her “absolutely fuming”. She wrote: “So lucky and thankful Martin opened it with her and found it first!”
After re-checking their receipts, the couple confirmed they had ordered the gift from Studio, an online retailer that is owned by the Studio Retail Group. The company was acquired for £1 by billionaire Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group in February 2022.
Unable to speak to anyone on Christmas Day, they tried again on Boxing Day and were put through to the complaints department. “They were pretty shocked,” said Martin. “They passed on the complaint to the investigations team, saying they need to know how this happened.”
The wooden Peppa Pig campervan was manufactured in China and Martin suspects the blue Martor knife was accidently lost when the item was being packaged. “Some guy in China is probably still looking around for his knife,” he said.
“There was a void in the bottom of the box where the plastic bindings were tied. Someone probably put the knife down for a second and forgot about it when trimming the ties. When looking at the product in its finished packaging, the knife wasn’t visible at all.”
Though shaken, both parents were determined the incident wouldn’t spoil Christmas for their young children. They continued to open their children's presents – very carefully.
“It’s been slow-going,” said Martin. “We’re careful anyway but now we’re being even more meticulous to make sure there are no more unwanted surprises. We still haven’t got through all the presents yet.
“We have played through the various horrible what-if-we-hadn’t-seen-it-when-we-did” scenarios? What if our other child had picked it up? What if the dirty work blade had cut someone, particularly with so many emergency services currently on strike? But the prevailing feeling is a sense of relief that nobody got hurt.”
Studio was approached for a comment by NorthWalesLive.
