The director of an online knife retailer which sold a machete to the Southport attacker has admitted he "couldn't tell you what [the buyer's] intentions were", the public inquiry has heard.
The teenage attacker, known as AR, bought the Black Panther kukri machete, which had a 16.5 inch blade, from the Knife Warehouse in October 2023, when he was 17.
He later used a kitchen knife, bought from Amazon, to carry out the attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July 2024, murdering Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.
Giving evidence at Liverpool Town Hall on Tuesday, Joseph Wheeler, managing director of Knife Warehouse, accepted he had no “curiosity” about who he was selling to when purchases were made on his site.
He said the website had probably sold more than 100 machetes in 2023 although, he added, they no longer stocked them.
Joseph Wheeler, managing director of the Knife Warehouse website, gave evidence at the Southport Inquiry. Credit: Southport Inquiry
Inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford asked: “Is it your evidence that those machetes your company sold were in your view all going to be used by whoever bought them to cut vegetation?”
Mr Wheeler replied: “I couldn’t tell you what their intentions were, to be honest.”
Asked if he had “any curiosity at all” about who was buying the items and why they wanted them, Mr Wheeler said he paid particular attention to “gang areas”.
Sir Adrian said: “When it comes to it, you don’t actually really have any curiosity about who you are selling these to?”
Mr Wheeler replied: “I suppose not, sir.”
Counsel to the inquiry Nicholas Moss KC asked why the knife which AR bought was entirely black in colour.
Mr Wheeler said: “I’ve no idea. That’s just how they came. Black seems to be the most popular colour.”
Mr Moss said: “A Black Panther Kukri machete with a completely black silhouette, it might be thought, is named and branded in a way to make it look as ferocious a weapon as possible, is that fair?”
Mr Wheeler replied: “Maybe so.
“I never thought about that at the time or I didn’t think of it in that way.”
The inquiry heard when making the purchase, AR used a driving licence which belonged to a man who was in his 60s and living in Uxbridge as age verification.
Mr Wheeler said he believed the ID was genuine.
Asked if it “rang alarm bells” that the order was being delivered to Banks, Lancashire, more than 200 miles away from the address, he said: “I can’t remember because it was two years ago, but I didn’t spot anything or don’t remember anything at the time.”
He said the company, based in Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, now asked customers for proof of address as well as ID when verifying that they were over 18.
Arrows bought by the killer online. Credit: PA images
The inquiry was shown photos of the package sent to the attacker, including a postage label which said “age verification” and “over 18 only”.
Mr Moss said Royal Mail, who delivered the parcel, had done checks and it appears the package was received by AR's father, Alphonse.
The packaging did not advise that it contained a bladed item, which Mr Moss said was a legal requirement at the time.
He asked: “You did not meet your legal duty in that respect in terms of the delivery, would you agree?”
Mr Wheeler replied: “Well this is the first time I have seen this parcel but it appears not to be on there, yes.”
The inquiry also heard from Juan Martinez, director of the Hunting and Knives website, which sold AR a machete later found in a holdall under his bed.
The hearing was told AR used the same driving licence as he had for his Knife Warehouse purchase to place the order, but there was no age verification on delivery.
Mr Martinez, who spoke through a Spanish interpreter and gave evidence over a link, said the delivery was made through firm SJ Henderson and he believed they was complying with the age-verification requirements.
He said 2,811 packages, of which he said 99.9% were bladed items, were sent through the firm and therefore without age verification.
Mr Moss said: “You do not know, and the inquiry cannot know, how many of those more than 2,500 knives may have ended up in the hands of children.”
AR bought three machetes in 2023 but two, one from Knife Warehouse and one from Springfield of Burton, needed age verification on delivery and were intercepted by his father, the inquiry was told.
The inquiry was adjourned until Wednesday.
[SRC] https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2025-09-30/director-of-site-which-sold-machete-to-southport-attacker-showed-no-curiosity
