The pocket-money knives on sale for 95p! How blades disguised as keys and even a credit card are being bought by teenagers from Chinese fast fashion giant Shein
A disturbing range of disguised knives are being offered for sale at pocket-money prices on a controversial fast-fashion website.
The Daily Mail bought a range of sinister illegal weapons from the Shein website for just 95p, with no age verification. Blades are hidden in what appears to be keys, a lipstick and even a credit card. Some are boldly advertised as being for ‘self-defense’.
Yet it is illegal for anyone to carry a weapon in self-defense, and all ‘disguised’ knives are prohibited for sale and possession by adults, let alone children.
Despite concerns about Shein’s Chinese roots and disputed claims about products made with slave labor, Chancellor said Jeremy Hunt and Labor business spokesman Jonathan Reynolds have met company chairman Donald Tang to encourage a proposed £50 billion initial public offering on the stock exchange. London Stock Exchange.
But first last night Tory Minister of Justice and Judge Sir Robert Buckland said: “Selling deadly weapons this way is criminal, plain and simple. “No reputable company should flout the law by selling knives to our children.”
The Daily Mail bought a range of sinister illegal weapons from the Shein website for just 95p, with no age verification
Blades are hidden in what appears to be keys, a lipstick and even a credit card. Some are boldly announced as being for ‘self-defense’
Chartered Trading Standards Institute spokesperson Kerry Nicol added: ‘No responsible UK retailer sells such knives, to adults or children.’
The Mail’s terrifying purchases are revealed this week two 12-year-olds were convicted of the murder of Shawn Seesahai19, with a machete in Wolverhampton.
Shein abandoned its planned US IPO after politicians raised concerns about China’s communist origins and accusations that sweatshops make their clothes.
But it was a concerned British mother who alerted the Mail to the hidden knives.
Within seconds of opening Shein’s website we had ordered, with no proof of age required:
- A knife concealed in what appears to be a lipstick, described as ‘in self-defence’: £2.25;
- Knives with blades hidden in a key, billed as ‘self-defence pocket knives’: £1 each;
- A blade hidden in what looks like a credit card, which folds to form the handle: 95p;
- A pocket knife with a waistband clip, described as ‘suitable for self-defence’: £1.90;
- A folding lock knife with the blade extended rigidly unless a release mechanism is pressed: £1.75.
Former Tory justice secretary and judge Sir Robert Buckland (pictured) said: ‘Selling deadly weapons in this way is criminal, plain and simple. No reputable company should flout the law by selling knives to our children.
This knife was alarmingly disguised as a credit card and cost just £1
Youth knife crime campaigner Patrick Green (pictured with Idris Elba in January 2024), from the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: ‘If you can get these delivered without any age verification, it’s no surprise the streets are awash with knives’
It means the entire cache was purchased for around £10 and delivered by post shortly afterwards. The weapons could easily be smuggled into a school in a blazer pocket.
Youth knife crime campaigner Patrick Green, from the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: ‘If you can get these delivered without any age verification, it’s no surprise the streets are awash with knives.
‘Why would a ‘responsible retailer’ supply knives that are ideal for sinister criminal purposes?’
When contacted by the Mail, a spokesperson for Shein tried to play down the story by suggesting similar knives were available elsewhere. She later said, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have strict controls on the sale of knives and if we spot a breach we investigate and work quickly to remove the product.”
