AR’s Amazon usage

¶3. AR made enquiries with, and purchases from, a range of online retailers. However, a number of the purchases of concern were made on Amazon. As a result, it is convenient to address AR’s Amazon account first in this chapter. Thereafter, I address individually AR’s key purchases of concern (made through Amazon and other retailers): castor beans and equipment used to make ricin; archery equipment (conventional bows and crossbows); and knives and machetes.

AR’s Amazon account

¶4. AR opened an Amazon account on 25 April 2019 using his email address: a.megalania7@yahoo.com.²⁸⁸²⁸⁸ T/S: 17/51/12-52/12. The customer name for this account was originally a pseudonym (Daniel Rysen), then simply “A” and then “A R”. Initially, he made purchases using a combination of his parents’ bank cards and his own, but he used his own card only from 27 October 2021. I address the various shipping names and billing names used for different orders below.²⁸⁹²⁸⁹ AMA000096.

¶5. Amazon’s Conditions of Use and Sale include a term that: “[w]e do not sell products for purchase by children. We sell children’s products for purchase by adults. If you are under 18 you may use the Amazon Services only with the involvement of a parent or guardian”.²⁹⁰²⁹⁰ AMA000040/§17. However, there was and is no age verification process when opening an Amazon account, for example no requirement to provide an ID or even provide a date of birth. The term in question is only visible to those customers who click onto the terms and conditions and read them. Mr John Boumphrey, the Vice President and Country Manager for Amazon UK and Ireland, accepted that not many customers would do this.²⁹¹²⁹¹ T/S: 17/49/16-51/11. He drew an analogy to physical shops, which would not prevent children from accessing their stores. However, he accepted the position may be different for Amazon given the range of products on sale and accepted that there are no means of checking how many children are main account holders of Amazon accounts, thereby being able to use those accounts without the supervision of a parent or guardian.

¶6. Searches of the older of AR’s two tablets (SMG/3), carried out after the attack, revealed cached images of the items AR had been browsing on Amazon.²⁹²²⁹² MERP001464; T/S: 17/52/13-58/10. The images show a variety of items including axes, knives, arrows, a sledgehammer (see below), a bill hook, secateurs and pruning saws. These items were all legal to sell, although some required age verification (e.g. axes), and a number are in common household use. Nevertheless, all of those items could be used as weapons in the wrong hands. When viewed together, it was a concerning collection and Mr Boumphrey accepted that it was “very difficult to look at that list”.²⁹³²⁹³ T/S: 17/54/8-17.

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¶7. AR’s browsing on Amazon reveals a violence fixated mindset. It is concerning that someone with that mindset was able to browse such dangerous items and that AR was then able to purchase items that could be used as weapons without any age restriction.

Jerry can, bottles and matches

¶8. On 30 April 2022, AR purchased a ‘5L Plastic Jerry Can with Spout’ and 12 ‘Glass Beer Swing Stopper Bottles… (500ml)’.²⁹⁴²⁹⁴ AMA000096, rows 63-64. On 10 June 2023, AR purchased: a ‘Pack of 5… Flame Lighters’, ‘Duck Tape’ and ‘Hurricane Survival Matches’.²⁹⁵²⁹⁵ AMA000096, rows 84-87. These were all delivered to 10 Old School Close with a shipping and billing name of “Ax Rud”, save for the jerry can and bottles for which the shipping and billing name was “Al Rud”.

¶9. Alphonse R stated that, on the morning of 22 July 2024, before AR had attempted to take the taxi to Range High School, AR had asked him to buy petrol. AR did not have a driving licence. Alphonse R had noticed the jerry can in the living room a couple of days earlier.²⁹⁶²⁹⁶ T/S: 34/57/13-23. Alphonse R thought that AR wanted to use the petrol to start a fire at Range High School, however, he did not ask AR anything about this.²⁹⁷²⁹⁷ T/S: 34/58/14-59/3.

¶10. After the attack, the jerry can and a number of bottles with matches taped to them were found in the living room. Detective Chief Inspector Jason Pye surmised that AR could have started to make petrol bombs or Molotov cocktails.²⁹⁸²⁹⁸ First Witness Statement of DCI Pye MERP007551/§76(i). None of these items were illegal to purchase, although if petrol and a wick had been present, then it could have amounted to a criminal offence to have these items in a home under the Explosive Substances Act 1883.

‘Smoke grenades’

¶11. On 8 January 2023, AR made an online order for an ‘Inevitable Party Pack of 4 Ring Pull Smoke Grenade Effects for Paintball, Weddings, Photoshoots & Special Effects (Orange)’ from a company called Inevitable UK, via Amazon. He used his payment card (bearing his full name), and the shipping address was 10 Old School Close. The shipping and billing name was the slightly abbreviated version of AR’s name (“Ax Rud”).²⁹⁹²⁹⁹ AMA000096, row 76.

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¶12. These smoke grenades were not the sort that might be used by the military or in policing.³⁰⁰³⁰⁰ T/S: 17/73/2-6. Nevertheless, they fell within the definition of an F2 firework and therefore should not have been sold to an under-18-year-old.³⁰¹³⁰¹ Under section 31 of the Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2015. UK Parliament (2015), ‘Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2015’, section 31. Available at: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1553/regulation/31 The online sale of F2 fireworks was not, however, subject to any specific requirements, such as the requirement for a warning label on knife delivery packaging.³⁰²³⁰² T/S: 17/74/19-75/14.

¶13. Although Amazon does not store or handle smoke grenades, it does allow their sale by retailers via Amazon who use their own delivery arrangements.³⁰³³⁰³ T/S: 17/73/16-74/18. Ms Michelle O’Brien, the sole trader behind Inevitable UK, stated that the listing of the smoke grenades on Amazon had always included a ‘legal disclaimer’ that “This product is not for sale to people under the age of 18”.³⁰⁴³⁰⁴ Witness Statement of Ms O’Brien INEV000001/§10. However, there was no online age verification or age verified delivery in place. Ms O’Brien provided the following explanation:

¶“In January 2023 we assumed that the buyer was over 18 due to having been able to use an account on Amazon.co.uk. You have to be 18 years or older to open an Amazon account. Parents can set up child accounts, which are added to their own account however they then bear responsibility for the account. This should cover protections before an order could be placed, and protections when the item is delivered.”³⁰⁵³⁰⁵ Witness Statement of Ms O’Brien INEV000001/§11.

¶14. In fact, as set out above, Amazon does not carry out any age verification checks when an account is opened and the requirement for a purchaser to be over the age of 18 is only visible to those who click through and read Amazon’s terms and conditions.

¶15. The absence of any checks meant that AR was able to purchase the smoke grenades while under 18, without any form of online age verification. The parcel was delivered by Evri, which (as I have set out in detail below) does not undertake age verified deliveries.³⁰⁶³⁰⁶ MERP007641/8.

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¶16. The fact that the smoke grenades should have been subject to age restriction was not recognised by Amazon’s internal review dated 7 February 2025.³⁰⁷³⁰⁷ AMA000084. Once the issue was appreciated, Amazon wrote to the sellers of these smoke grenades reminding them of the age restriction associated with these products and their legal duties. Additionally, there is now a uniform age restriction warning on every listing of smoke grenades in the same position on the product detail page.³⁰⁸³⁰⁸ T/S: 17/76/14-21; Second Witness Statement of Mr Boumphrey AMA000083/§5.5.

¶17. In conclusion, I am concerned that these smoke grenades were inappropriately sold and delivered to AR and, moreover, that Amazon only appreciated at a late stage that the smoke grenades should have been subject to age restriction. Since they did not form any part of the attack and there is no evidence as to their likely or possible lethal effect, I have not included the arrangements for the sale of smoke grenades in my recommendations. However, it is clearly essential that the age restriction requirements are followed. Moreover, the fact that:

¶a. Amazon failed to identify the lack of age restriction for some time; and

¶b. The retailer is relying on account holders being 18 or over, provides support for the case for requiring age verification on opening an Amazon account and for having systems in place to monitor concerning patterns of purchases. I consider this further below.

Sledgehammer

¶18. On 10 June 2023, AR purchased an industrial strength ‘Amtech… 2.7kg… Sledge Hammer’ from a company called Jimbobs Ltd, via Amazon.³⁰⁹³⁰⁹ AMA000096, row 88. The shipping and billing name was “Ax Rud”. There was, and is, no legal age requirement for the purchase of a sledgehammer.

¶19. Alphonse R saw the sledgehammer when he was tidying the living room on 22 July 2024, after AR had attempted to take the taxi to Range High School. He moved it to the airing cupboard “so that it was out of the way”.³¹⁰³¹⁰ Witness Statement of Alphonse R IWS000058/§250. When the police searched the house after the attack, the sledgehammer was found in sealed packaging in AR’s bedroom, which contained an airing cupboard.³¹¹³¹¹ First Witness Statement of DCI Pye MERP007551/§76(e); MERP000767/6.

¶20. Since the attack, Jimbobs Ltd now require age verification from a buyer when purchasing a tool on eBay. Mr Robert Shaw, the Director of Jimbobs Ltd, considers that age verification is an important step when someone is purchasing an item online that could be considered to be a weapon and that Amazon needs to do more in this regard.³¹²³¹² Witness Statement of Mr Shaw JIMB000002/§8.

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Analysis

¶21. The issues above support the case for online monitoring and restrictions of persons who have been identified as being violence fixated or those at risk of violence fixation. The cached images on AR’s old tablet would have been revealing if they had been appreciated at an earlier stage. Moreover, restrictions on AR’s online access would have hindered his ability to amass his collection of weapons.

¶22. Amazon takes no active steps to enforce the condition that children can use Amazon Services only with the involvement of a parent or guardian. Given it has such a policy, combined with the concerns raised by this case, Amazon should take steps to ensure that the policy is enforced, and I return to this in the recommendations at the end of this chapter.

¶23. More generally, the facts provide some support for a recommendation that online retailers introduce age verification for legal but dangerous items, such as sledgehammers. I do however recognise the challenges in this respect, given that:

¶a. Some of these items could be purchased by those under 18 for legitimate reasons; and

¶b. The challenges of setting the scope of such restrictions, for example, would it apply to a baseball bat or a rounders bat?

¶24. As a result, there may instead be a case for more focused systems which recognise, prevent and report dangerous patterns of browsing and purchase. Mr Boumphrey accepted that it would be appropriate for Amazon to liaise with the Home Office and law enforcement bodies over framing guidance as to when retailers should alert the authorities.³¹³³¹³ T/S: 17/72/11-16. This could include if particular items, which could be used offensively, are bought in conjunction from the same retailer (with or without other concerns, such as a pattern of cancelled orders). I appreciate that such systems are likely to be complex. I note the suggestion in the closing statement on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department that measures in relation to this issue could form part of a licensing regime for those who sell knives.³¹⁴³¹⁴ Closing Statement on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department HOM000212/21/§59. However, I also note some of the practical challenges in relation to a wider system set out in the second statement of Mr Nick Hunt.³¹⁵³¹⁵ Second Witness Statement of Mr Hunt HOM000221/§§4-11. As a result, I wish to explore this further in Phase 2 of the Inquiry.

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