Bosses of Sydenhams Limited appeared in the dock of Oxford Magistrates Court on Friday. It was after an underage volunteer from Oxfordshire County Council purchased a Stanley knife from the Abingdon branch on January 21. The head of Oxfordshire’s Trading Standards said that officers had gone into shops to give advice on selling age-restricted products and let managers know that test purchases would be carried out. At court the mitigation counsel stated the company had no previous convictions in almost 150 years of trading and that it was a ‘mistake’ made by an otherwise exemplary employee. The company was fined £15,000 reduced to £10,000 for an early guilty plea.