Amazon launches ‘urgent investigation’ after Southport killer bought knife online
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Axel Rudakubana bought a 20cm blade from the online retailer days before he carried out his attack. Amazon has launched an “urgent” investigation after triple murderer Axel Rudakubana was able to order a knife which he then used to stab young schoolgirls.
![[Home secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs it was “unbearable” to think more could have been done to prevent the Southport attack]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/21/15/3641bb60e787ffeb344557685339b235Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3NTU5NTcw-2.78757758.jpg)
Despite having a previous conviction for violence and being under the age of 18, he succeeded in purchasing a 20cm Cerbera knife using encrypted software to hide his address on 20 July, just days before he carried out his attack in Southport on 29 July.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs it is a “total disgrace” that Rudakubana, then 17 and with a history of violence, was able to buy a weapon online and promised new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill this spring. This could see retailers forced to ask anyone purchasing a knife for two types of identification, such as an official identity document and a live video to prove their age.
Writing in The Sun, Sir Keir said: “It remains shockingly easy for our children to get their hands on deadly knives. The lessons of this case could not be clearer. “Time and again, as a child, the Southport murderer carried knives. Time and again, he showed clear intent to use them.
“And yet, tragically, he was still able to order the murder weapon off of the internet without any checks or barriers. A two-click killer. This cannot continue. “The technology is there to set up age verification checks, even for kitchen knives ordered online.
