Overview
- Hunting & Knives told the Southport inquiry it sent 2,811 parcels into the UK, 99.9% containing blades, without age‑verified delivery via a chain involving SJ Henderson, Whistl and Evri.
- Evri’s chief customer officer said the courier does not offer age‑verified delivery and was wholly unaware the parcels it delivered contained bladed items.
- SJ Henderson’s CEO accepted he fell short in oversight, while Whistl described the unverified shipments as deeply concerning as contracts masked the nature of the goods and required 18+ labelling was not applied.
- Knife Warehouse’s managing director admitted he had ‘no curiosity’ about buyers and accepted a parcel to the attacker lacked the legally required ‘contains a bladed item’ label after age verification relied on an older man’s driving licence.
- Hunting & Knives’ director acknowledged he fell woefully short as a seller after a kukri was delivered to the attacker without checks, whereas two other machetes sent with age‑verified delivery were intercepted by the attacker’s father.