Chapter 5: Weapons and poisons

Introduction

¶1. This chapter addresses the weapons and poisons AR accumulated by the time he launched his attack on 29 July 2024. The weapon AR used in the attack was a 20 cm Apollo Chef Knife purchased from Amazon on 13 July 2024. However, it is no exaggeration that AR had by this time accumulated a small arsenal of weapons. I have introduced the broad timeline of these purchases in Chapter 2: Chronology. The timing of these purchases and their location is relevant to the evidence of AR’s family which I address in Chapter 12 and to the individual agencies which I address in Chapters 7 to 11. My main focus in this chapter is to consider:

¶a. The legal restrictions on the sale of the items in question both at the time, and currently;

¶b. The enforcement of those restrictions;

¶c. Whether the relevant vendors complied with the legal restrictions and met good practice;

¶d. Recommendations for the future.

¶2. I received valuable evidence on the wider context of youth offending involving weapons, particularly knives, from Mr Nick Hunt, the Head of the Firearms and Weapons Policy Unit in the Home Office,²⁸³²⁸³ First Witness Statement of Mr Hunt HOM000202/§2, adopting §§192-293 and Annex B of the First Witness Statement of Ms Ellsmore, HOM000078; Second Witness Statement of Mr Hunt HOM000221; T/S 23/115/18-182/10. and from Ms Stephanie Roberts-Bibby, Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board.²⁸⁴²⁸⁴ Witness Statement of Ms Roberts-Bibby YJB000076; Addendum to the Witness Statement of Ms Roberts-Bibby YJB000129; T/S: 32/1/1-63/6. Ms Roberts-Bibby said, rightly, that this is a ‘complex and complicated’ problem that cannot simply be legislated away, and she provided valuable insight and proposals for systemic change.²⁸⁵²⁸⁵ T/S: 32/40/6-10. Mr Hunt set out the existing legislative framework around both the possession and sale of weapons. He also explained the measures within the Crime and Policing Bill which are intended to address vulnerabilities in the current regime for purchase and sale of knives, especially in respect of age verification and remote sales. His evidence additionally covered the Home Office’s response to the Clayman Review into knife sales.²⁸⁶²⁸⁶ HOM000160, available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-end-to-end-review-of-online-knife-sales,²⁸⁷²⁸⁷ T/S: 23/142/1-10, T/S: 23/145/10-155/25, T/S: 23/179/14-181/23. This broader context was invaluable in assessing the evidence about AR’s purchases and attempted purchases of weapons, as well as in formulating the recommendations which appear at the end of this chapter.

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