Council prosecutes pharmacy over illegal razor blade sale

The owners of a Croydon pharmacy have been ordered to pay over £10,000 in a court prosecution after trading standards officers caught them illegally selling razor blades to a child.

Croydon Council prosecuted Servicare Limited after a member of staff at its Swan Pharmacy in South End was caught selling a packet of five Wilkinson Sword razor blades to someone aged under 18, which is illegal under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

Croydon Magistrates’ Court heard on Tuesday 16 October that a Swan Pharmacy member of staff had tried to sell the razor blades to the boy on 12 April this year, even after finding out he was 15 because they thought the legal age was 16. The attempted sale was witnessed by a member of Croydon Council’s trading standards team. The boy was a test purchasing volunteer for the council.

The prosecution came after the pharmacy had received several warnings about the need to know the law on the sale of knives, razors and blades:

  • In October 2016 trading standards officers had invited Swan Pharmacy to attend one of six free training sessions. No one attended from the business.
  • In September 2017 the company signed a responsible retailer agreement on knife and razor sales with trading standards and police officers.
  • In April 2018 the company was told test purchasing sessions would be taking place in the area within the coming weeks.

After entering an early guilty plea, Servicare was ordered to pay £10,304 including an £8,000 fine.

Croydon Council is holding its next training sessions in January. For more information, visit the council website.

“It is illegal to sell knives or razor blades to anyone under 18, and we will continue to prosecute negligent businesses of any size to keep Croydon residents as safe as possible.

“This case could have been avoided if the business had accepted our offer to train them in this part of the law. I therefore urge other Croydon retailers to sign up for our future training courses so everyone knows that these potentially dangerous products must only be sold to adults.”

Councillor Hamida Ali, cabinet member for safer Croydon and communities

2018-10-23T14:55:01+01:00 October 23rd, 2018|Recent news|