The managing director of a knife retailer that sold a machete to the Southport killer was previously cautioned by police for marketing blades as 'suitable for combat', the public inquiry has heard.
Joseph Wheeler, boss of Knife Warehouse, told the inquiry on Tuesday that the Black Panther kukri machete with a 16.5-inch blade sold to Axel Rudakubana was 'just another product'. Rudakubana murdered three girls and injured ten others in a Taylor Swift-themed dance class attack last July.
The inquiry heard that Wheeler received a police caution in 2015 for selling knives marketed as combat weapons. In 2018, a blade from Knife Warehouse was used to murder 17-year-old Malcolm Mide-Madariola in Clapham, and in 2019, a knife from the same company was used in the murder of Peter Anderson.
When asked if he believed all machetes sold were for cutting vegetation, Wheeler replied: 'I couldn't tell you what their intentions were.' He admitted he had no curiosity about who he was selling to.
Separately, the inquiry heard that Rudakubana contacted archery retailers when he was 15, asking for crossbows delivered in 'discreet' packaging. Bradley Sutherland, director of Tactical Archery, confirmed the emails, but said the inquiries were not unusual enough to raise concern at the time.
