Selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18

s.141ACriminal Justice Act 1988

Selling a knife, blade, razor blade, axe or other bladed or sharply pointed article made or adapted for causing injury to a person under 18.

Selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18 · Criminal Justice Act 1988, s.141ACard 86 / 195

Points to prove

Sold
To a person under the age of 18
An article to which s.141A applies: any knife, knife blade or razor blade, any axe, or any other article which has a blade or is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person

Key definitions

Excluded articles – s.141A(3): weapons covered by s.1 Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 (flick and gravity knives), and articles excluded by order.
Excluded by order – the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Exemption) Order 1996 excludes folding pocket knives with a cutting edge of 7.62 cm (3 inches) or less, and razor blades permanently enclosed in a cartridge with less than 2 mm exposed.
Sells – the offence is committed by the seller. The seller can be an individual, such as a shop assistant who makes the sale, or a business acting through its staff (s.141B(2) refers to a seller that is not an individual).

Defences

Due diligence – s.141A(4): the defendant proves they took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence, for example a robust age check policy and staff training.
Remote sales – s.141B: where the seller was not in the buyer’s presence (such as online sales), due diligence can only be proved if, as a minimum, the seller ran an effective age verification system, marked the package as containing a bladed article for delivery only to a person aged 18 or over, took reasonable steps to ensure it was handed to an adult, and did not deliver to a locker.

Good to know

Test purchases by under-18s working with Trading Standards or police are a common way of detecting this offence.
Section 29 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will make this offence either way (maximum 2 years on indictment) when commenced, and s.32 tightens age checks for remote sales. Neither was in force when checked on 2 November 2026.
Summary only, so the 6-month time limit for laying an information applies.

Legislation: Criminal Justice Act 1988, s.141A (opens legislation.gov.uk in a new tab)
Mode of trial: Summary only
Maximum penalty: 6 months' imprisonment and/or a fine
Last checked: 2 November 2026, against the current law on legislation.gov.uk

Selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18: questions people ask

What are the points to prove for selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18?

1. Sold 2. To a person under the age of 18 3. An article to which s.141A applies: any knife, knife blade or razor blade, any axe, or any other article which has a blade or is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person

What is the maximum sentence for selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18?

6 months' imprisonment and/or a fine.

Is selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18 a summary, either-way or indictable offence?

Selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18 is a summary-only offence: it is tried in the magistrates’ court.

What Act and section is selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18?

Selling a knife or bladed article to a person under 18 is an offence under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, s.141A.

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