Business owner fined for allowing a knife to be sold to a child

The owner of a Lye town centre store has been fined, after a chopper blade was sold to an undercover 15-year-old.

In May 2024, Dudley Council’s trading standards team worked with a child volunteer to test compliance on knife sales.

The law prohibits knife sales to under 18s, but when the minor visited Lye Pound Plus, located on the High Street, they were sold a 7-inch stainless steel chopper blade by Ibrahim Ahmed Nasr, who was working in the store owned by Haji Ameen at the time. 

When selling the £5 blade, Mr Nasr did not ask for age identification from the youngster, prompting trading standards to investigate.

Both Mr Nasr and Mr Ameen were invited to attend an interview under caution, although Mr Nasr failed to attend, and were subsequently taken to court by trading standards following their investigations.

Mr Ameen could not provide any written evidence of employee training on age restricted products including knives and claimed that he did not employ Mr Nasr, stating that a relative had arranged for him to work there.

The court found that, even though Mr Ameen was not the person who had sold the knife, he should have taken more measures to ensure compliance. He entered a guilty plea, stating he had taken measures to reinforce the need for compliance before leaving the business.

The court imposed a fine of £923.00 with credit for the early guilty plea, as well as a £369 victim surcharge and a contribution towards the costs of £380 in costs.

At an earlier hearing in April 2025, Mr Nasr pleaded guilty to selling the knife. The court imposed a £200 fine, an £80 surcharge and a contribution towards the costs of £200.

Councillor Phil Atkins, cabinet member responsible for trading standards, said: “I welcome the outcome of these court cases, following the robust actions of our tenacious trading standards team.

“Knife crime is a national issue with huge repercussions for communities and our officers continue to work closely with West Midlands Police to test business compliance within Dudley borough.

“I would urge anyone with concerns or information about businesses failing to comply to contact our trading standards team’s confidential hotline.”

People can contact Dudley Council’s trading standards team by calling the confidential hotline on 01384 814 600.