It's been a bad week for high-street clothing chain TK Maxx. On Friday The Sun reported that TK Maxx have been selling a jacket which comes with a "potentially lethal" knife attached to it. The paper worried that any teens who bought one of the fashionable coats would be "tooled up" – street slang for carrying a weapon. A shopper noticed the garment in his local store and was appalled, he told the Sun "It’s scandalous, with all the attacks involving knives, that a big national store is selling them as part of clothing." Equally outraged was Joan Holland, whose son was murdered last year in a knife attack who told The Sun "It’s horrendous. They’re promoting knife crime." The jacket was being sold for just £59 but after being contacted by The Sun, TK Maxx removed the offending garment from their shelves and released a statement saying "T.K. Maxx supports and enforces all laws with regard to the sale of knives."
Things only got worse for the discount retailer when the News of the World newpaper revealed that TK Maxx had been selling 20 inch blades concealed within sticks, which a spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said would be considered an "offensive weapon". TK Maxx were again forced to apologise and released the following statement: "With regards to the walking cane, these were artisan pieces and our buyers were not aware that they concealed blades. We took urgent steps to remove them from the floor yesterday therefore they are not available in any of our 220 stores." The company is now reviewing its processes and "will strengthen them in order to prevent this from happening again."
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