Barnet shop fined after knife sold to undercover teen

A Hendon shop owner has been fined after selling a kitchen knife to an undercover 15-year-old during a Trading Standards operation in Barnet.

Barnet Council said Mustafa Deger, owner of the convenience and household goods shop Good for You at 114 Brent Street, Hendon, pleaded guilty at Willesden Magistrates Court in May. He was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £4,100.

The sale took place during an undercover operation in December 2025, when police cadets working with the council attempted to buy knives from shops across the borough as part of Operation Sceptre.

Knife sale at a Hendon shop

The case centred on the sale of a kitchen knife to a teenager below the legal age for buying knives in the UK. The minimum age for purchasing a knife is 18, and retailers are expected to have checks in place before completing a sale.

Good for You, on Brent Street in Hendon, was among the businesses visited during the test purchasing operation. Barnet Council said its Trading Standards team had previously visited local businesses to give advice on the correct storage and sale of knives.

That guidance included steps retailers can use to show due diligence, such as staff training, age checks, clear procedures for restricted goods and safe display or storage arrangements.

£4,100 penalty at Willesden Magistrates Court

Deger pleaded guilty at Willesden Magistrates Court in May after the council brought the prosecution. The court ordered him to pay a total of £4,100.

For residents, the case shows how test purchasing is being used to check whether retailers are following age-restricted sales law. These operations are designed to identify failures before knives reach young people through ordinary shop sales.

Cllr Sara Conway, Barnet Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Chair of the Safer Communities Partnership, said the prosecution sent a clear message that the authority would act against businesses found to be breaking the law and compromising resident safety.

She also described it as another result for Trading Standards and its long-running partnership with local police cadets.

Operation Sceptre checks across Barnet

The undercover visits formed part of Operation Sceptre, a national policing and community safety focus on knife crime and weapons. In Barnet, police cadets were asked to try to purchase knives as part of the council’s local enforcement work.

The Barnet case sits alongside wider London efforts to reduce access to knives and encourage safe disposal of bladed weapons. Similar local safety work has included youth-focused knife crime prevention in Haringey, where workshops and sports activities were used to reach young people and families.

Barnet Council said its community safety partnership is committed to protecting communities and ensuring businesses operate within the law.

How residents can report concerns

Residents who are concerned about how a Barnet business is operating can contact the council’s Trading Standards team at trading.standards@barnet.gov.uk.

Concerns can also be reported through London Trading Standards, which handles information about consumer crime and unlawful trading practices across the capital.

Barnet has also introduced a permanent knife surrender bin on Bunns Lane, NW7, with a one-day mobile bin previously used in the borough as part of a London-wide initiative funded by the Home Office.

The bins provide a safe and anonymous way to dispose of knives and other bladed weapons. The council says knives should be wrapped in several layers of cardboard or paper and secured with sticky tape so the blade is fully protected and cannot easily be removed.

Although carrying a knife in a public place is an offence, the council says it is considered reasonable to carry one directly to a knife surrender bin when it has been wrapped securely in this way.

Source: Barnet Council