Clerkenwell shop sold knives to teen minutes before stabbing
Councillor Paul Convery - Credit: Archant
Shopkeeper convicted after selling weapons to 17-year-old which were used to stab man seven times
A shopkeeper who sold knives to a 17-year-old minutes before they were used in a stabbing on a notorious Clerkenwell estate has been convicted following a prosecution led by the town hall.
Islington Council took legal action against Salman Capti, 26, the licence-holder of City Supermarket in Goswell Road.
The shop sold the weapons to the teenager before they were used to knife a man seven times just yards away on the Triangle Estate.
The 17-year-old was identified on the shop’s CCTV after packaging from the two Cook & Eat paring knives were found at the scene of the stabbing on June 19 last year and linked to the store.
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He was sentenced to five years’ youth detention after admitting that, while he did not take part in the attack, he had bought the knives.
Police passed details of the alleged sale by the shop to Islington Council’s Trading Standards Service and the council decided the large amount of circumstantial evidence revealed by the investigation was sufficient to bring a prosecution.
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After viewing the CCTV footage and considering the other evidence at a hearing on June 9, Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Capti had sold the knives to the youth.
Sentencing takes place on June 30.
Cllr Paul Convery, Islington Council’s executive member for community safety, said: “In this case, our trading standards team has shown how selling knives to an underage person brought terrible consequences both for the victim and also for the imprisoned youth and his family.
“If the sale had not been made, the stabbing may never have happened.
“It’s vital that shops selling knives follow trading standards’ advice and keep them in a locked cabinet or behind the counter. These knives were openly on display in an area of the shop not visible from the counter.
“The council will continue to enforce these laws and will take decisive action against any business which doesn’t follow our advice and sells knives to anyone under 18.”
Cllr Convery said all shops should employ a challenge 25 policy.
