I was horrified when I realised the £5 pencil cases I bought for my kids contained knives, they marketed them as ‘safe’
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TRADING Standards are investigating Shein after a horrified mum discovered her kids' new pencil case hid a concealed KNIFE - that the brand bragged was 'sharp' and 'ideal for teens'. Ann-Marie Bennett bought two stationery sets as presents for her two children before they went back to school in January.
The 35-year-old school office worker paid £5 for both pencil cases, which contained various pens, a pencil sharpener and a rubber. However, when the packages arrived, the mum-of-two was shocked to find a plastic flower that features a push switch that slides out a hidden one-inch blade secreted inside the item.
![[Two flower-shaped utility knives.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/6fc13dfd-7231-4a4b-a6a4-809e2d31eef7.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Shockingly, Shein's website proclaims the blade as ''sharp'' and ''easy to carry'' and says it is ''ideal for teenagers'' - while proclaiming it safe even for three-year-olds. Ann-Marie, who lives in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, immediately seized the pencil case from her eight-year-old daughter Alice's school bag, who had packed the item ready for class.
![[Shein product page showing a sold-out stationery gift set with a hidden knife.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/brand-bragged-sharp-ideal-teens-964369812.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The mum feared if her five-year-old daughter Abbie had played with the knife, she could have seriously injured herself. Ann-Marie felt so concerned that the item posed a risk of harming other children that she reported it to Trading Standards. Walsall Council's Trading Standards branded the item ''unacceptable'' for children and confirmed they would be investigating.
Ann-Marie said: "I was doing a big shop on Shein. The kids love pens and pencils and it was marketed at ages three to six. "[After ordering it], I was putting away all their stuff trying to make room and I thought what is this? The sharpener looks just like a nice little flower but has a knife in it.
