Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019 Page 37
Tesco and Asda
are caught selling
knives to children
By Sean Poulter
Consumer Affairs EditorAugust 12 and Lancashire Police
said her disappearance was
‘completely out of character’.
A post-mortem examination
revealed she died from compression
of the neck and a blue wheelie bin
similar to the one in the CCTV foot-
age was found near her body.
Mrs Birbeck’s mobile phone has
not been used since her disappear-
ance and is still missing.
Thousands of people had helped
search for her by handing out flyers
and looking for the primary school
worker via Facebook.
Detective Superintendent Andy
Cribbin, who is leading the inquiry,
said: ‘While we have made an arrest
our inquiries are very much contin-
uing and I would appeal for anyone
with information to come forward.’
He urged people not to speculate
about the arrest, adding: ‘This
causes distress to the family and
could impact our investigation.’
Hundreds of locals are expected
to attend a remembrance walk for
Mrs Birbeck in Accrington tonight
while more than £1,400 has already
been donated to a Cancer Research
UK fundraising page set up by
friends at her family’s request.Boy, 16, held over
teaching assistant
found strangled
in a graveyard
By Liz HullA TEENAGER was being
questioned last night by
police hunting the killer of a
teaching assistant found
strangled in a graveyard.
The 16-year-old was arrested
late on Tuesday night on suspi-
cion of the murder of Lindsay
Birbeck, 47, whose body was dis-
covered almost two weeks after
she disappeared.
Detectives had issued CCTV foot-
age of a suspect pulling a blue
wheelie bin along a street close to
where the mother-of-two’s body
was found at Accrington Cemetery
on Saturday.
Within hours of the appeal, they
arrested a 16-year-old boy who comes
from the Lancashire town and
cannot be named for legal reasons.
Yesterday Mrs Birbeck’s son
Steven, 19, posted a poignant
message on Twitter.
He said the killer has robbed his
mother of the chance to see him
and his sister Sarah, 16, grow up‘She will never see
her grandchildren’
Lindsay Birbeck: Missing for 12 daysRETAILERS are putting lives at risk
by failing to deliver on promises
not to sell knives to children, it
has been revealed.
National Trading Standards sent
children into high street stores to
attempt more than 2,200 test pur-
chases and found they were able
to buy a knife in more than one in
seven attempts – 15 per cent.
Poundland, Home Bargains, Asda
and Tesco sold knives to children
at least 15 times each – which is
both illegal and at odds with their
own policies to protect the public.
Some 41 out of 100 test purchases
made through online stores also
allowed children to buy a knife.
Under the Criminal Justice Act
1988, as amended by the Offensive
Weapons Act 1996, it is illegal to
sell a knife, knife blade, razor
blade or axe to anyone under 18.
Government ministers have
claimed that ease of access is
fuelling a knife crime epidemic
and have vowed to put in place
a revised weapons act which
will, among other things, stopknives being sent to residential
addresses after they are bought
online – unless they are delivered
to an age-verified adult.
Lord Harris, of National Trading
Standards, said retailers need to
take drastic action to restrict
sales, including taking them off
shelves or displaying them in
locked cabinets.
He said: ‘Our tests show that it’s
still too easy for a child to buy a
knife in a store or online. We know
that young people are being cau-
tioned and convicted for knife
crime offences, and as such I urge
all retailers to do more.’
Asda said it was ‘disappointed
with the results’ of the tests but
said ‘we have since provided
updated training for colleagues
and have clear policies in place to
ensure we meet all our responsi-
bilities’. The other three compa-
nies did not respond to requests
for comment.and have families of their own.
‘I’ve always cherished the thought
of seeing my mum smile,’ he wrote.
‘The fact that she will never see
me and my sister grow up and is not
going to be there on our wedding
days and never see her grand-
children deeply saddens us.
‘All taken by some selfish person
who deserves what comes around.’
Earlier this year, Mrs Birbeck sep-
arated from her husband Tim, 49,
chairman of nearby Hapton Parish
Council. Their daughter Sarah col-
lected her GCSE results last week
while her mother was still missing.
In reply to posts on Facebook, Mr
Birbeck told a friend he was ‘bro-
ken’ by his estranged wife’s killing.
‘It is horrendous watching our chil-
dren go through this,’ he added.
Mrs Birbeck was last seen walking
close to her home in Accrington on