'Their parents don’t know': 14 and 16-year-old questioned after police raid over Snapchat knife sales

30 May 2025, 08:10 | Updated: 2 June 2025, 21:52

Children as young as 14 have been 'caught selling knives to other children' on apps such as Snapchat, an LBC investigation has uncovered.

LBC joined the Metropolitan Police on a raid in which two schoolchildren, aged 14 and 16, were questioned on suspicion of selling blades, including machetes and zombie knives, to other children on Snapchat.

DCI James Tipple, from the Metropolitan Police, said that youngsters are regularly using social media platforms to “bypass all the security legislation that prevents [retailers] from selling to children”.

LBC's investigation found that an average of 12 knives per day were discovered on pupils across the UK in the most recent full school year (2023/24).

Among those to share their stories was an 18-year-old gang member named Moses, who told LBC he first began carrying a knife aged just 11-years-old.

Moses explained that platforms like Snapchat are now facilitating the sale of knives to minors.

“Kids [are] buying stuff and their parents just don’t know about it,” Moses told us.

“Parents should be checking phones and checking what their kids are doing - most kids, where they’re getting their knives from - it’s online.”

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Speaking with other gang members, community leaders and the headteacher of one of Britain’s most secure schools, the influence of social media was recognised as a key factor driving the uptake of knives by young people.

However, as well as exposing young people to violent content, such as teenagers carrying and using knives, social media has emerged as an avenue through which children are also purchasing weapons.

This trend, involving the purchase and sale of knives on social media, is an issue the country’s biggest police force is currently working to tackle.

Accompanying the Metropolitan Police during a police raid on a property in Kilburn, north west London, LBC witnessed the seizure of a mobile device which police confirmed was being used to sell and distribute knives via Snapchat.

DCI Tipple’s team also uncovered the weapons they suspected of being sold at the property.

“Knives [were] found in the 14 and 16-year-old's bedroom - and the mum’s given to us to destroy them. [The] mum didn’t know they were in the house,” he explained.

Asked whether blades advertised on platforms such as Snapchat end up in the hands of children, DCI Tipple lamented that it is often too easy for youngsters to access knives through social media:

“If you’re in the right circles, they are visible to you, and if you’re in the right areas, children can access them and children can buy them.

“That’s why we’re taking action against these sellers.”

The government recently introduced ‘Ronan’s Law’, which requires retailers to report any bulk or suspicious-looking purchases of knives on their platforms to police to prevent illegal resales happening across social media accounts.

It’s named after Ronan Kanda, who was stabbed to death in Wolverhampton in 2022.

Under the Online Safety Act, moreover, social media platforms have a duty to prevent the sale of illegal knives and weapons on their sites.

In response to LBC's findings, a Snapchat spokesperson insisted the company "quickly removes" any inappropriate content detected by the firm or reported to them by users.

“Using Snapchat for the sale of weapons, including knives, is against our rules. If we find this content, either through our proactive detection or if it is reported to us, we quickly remove it and take appropriate action against the account. We also regularly work with law enforcement to support their investigations,” a Snapchat spokesperson said.