A Hackney shopkeeper has been ordered to pay £2,000 after being caught selling a pack of knives to a minor.

Hackney Gazette: A knife found on a sweep of an estate, similar to those sold to the cadetA knife found on a sweep of an estate, similar to those sold to the cadet (Image: Archant)

Bhupinder Singh Madan, owner of the 98p Shop, in Kingsland High Street, Dalston, pleaded guilty to the offence at Thames Magistrates Court on Friday January 15.

The prosecution comes after his employee sold a pack of five small peeling knives to a cadet aged under 18 last July, during a Hackney Council Trading Standards operation.

Deputy Mayor, Cllr Sophie Linden, said: “Knife crime devastates families and communities. We will do whatever we can to prevent young people from getting hold of them in the first place. Local businesses have a responsibility to make sure that they are not selling these potentially lethal weapons to young people.”

Mr Madan was fined £800, £1120 costs and an £80 victim surcharge. He no longer sells knives, and now has posters in his shop stating ‘No ID, No sale’.