In a recent public inquiry, it was revealed that the head of a knife-selling business had been previously cautioned by law enforcement for distributing blades. Joseph Wheeler, the managing director of Knife Warehouse, testified that the machete they sold to the Southport killer was just a standard product. The killer, Axel Rudakubana, carried out a brutal attack using a knife purchased from Amazon at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, resulting in the tragic deaths of three young schoolgirls and injuries to several others.
Despite receiving a caution in 2015 for promoting knives as combat tools, Wheeler continued to sell lethal weapons. Knife Warehouse was associated with supplying blades that were used in the murder of a teenager named Malcolm Mide-Madariola. This incident involved a 15-inch jackal “zombie knife” that fatally wounded Malcolm during a confrontation outside his college in Clapham.
Subsequently, the company’s knives were also linked to the fatal stabbing of Peter Anderson by a County Lines drug dealer named Ashraf Hussan. Another troubling case involved a teenage terrorist, Matthew King, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for planning a knife attack after purchasing tactical gear from Knife Warehouse.
The company’s website was found promoting mystery box deals, where customers could receive random knives for fixed prices. During the inquiry, Sir Adrian Fulford questioned Wheeler about the purpose of the machetes sold by the company, to which Wheeler expressed a lack of knowledge regarding the buyers’ intentions.
Meanwhile, it came to light that Axel Rudakubana had reached out to archery retailers seeking crossbows with discreet packaging at the age of 15. This detail emerged during the inquiry, where it was revealed that Rudakubana inquired about the packaging of crossbows from various retailers, showing a deliberate attempt to conceal his purchases. Despite these interactions, Rudakubana did not make any actual purchases from the retailers.
The inquiry highlighted the need for stricter regulations on the sale of potentially dangerous items to prevent misuse and tragic outcomes. The Mirror has reached out to Knife Warehouse for their response to these revelations.
