An
undercover investigation by consumer magazine Which?
Computing caught branches of Woolworths, Game and Maplin in
Harrow, Middlesex selling the games Grand Theft Auto – Vice
City Stories, Condemned 2 and Hitman to the
teenager. The Maplin store assistant asked the girl's age but did
not refuse the sale when she said she was 15.
Such sales can be prosecuted under the Video Recordings Act of
1984 and punished with a fine of up to £5,000 and/or six months in
prison.
Brent and Harrow Trading Standards Services, which worked with
Which? Computing on the research, will not prosecute but
will contact and monitor the stores, according to a statement. All
three stores are investigating the findings and said that underage
sales are rare.
Harrow branches of Tesco, Argos, Debenhams, HMV and Currys
Digital all refused the teenager. A local shop, Entertainment
Exchange, also turned her away.
In a separate investigation, Trading Standards bodies at six
local authorities in Wales found nearly 90% of online traders
supplying violent games to youngsters. Each authority enlisted a
volunteer aged between 12 and 16 who attempted to buy 18-rated
video games on the internet using postal orders.
Of the 44 test purchases attempted, 38 traders sold the games to
the children assisting the authorities.
Lee Jones, acting head of Trading Standards, Bridgend County
Borough Council, said the survey shows how easily children can gain
access to age-restricted, violent video games.
"Traders who use auction sites and accept postal orders as
payment have no method of determining whether the person they are
selling to is aged 18 or over," he said.
