10:11am Saturday 19th July 2008
By Harry Hogger
SWEETS designed like flick knives are to be removed from sale after protests by parents Concerned mum Liz Evans, from Easton, Portland, called for the Co-op store at Easton to remove the Flick 'n' Lick' lollies from the shelves in the light of the knife crime epidemic that is sweeping the country.
Mrs Evans picked up the sweets for her 10-year-old son Russell and was shocked when she saw him open the packaging.
She said the children's treat was a replica of a type of flick knife called a butterfly knife.
Russell's parents and headmaster are shocked that, at a time when 17 teenagers have been killed in stabbing attacks this year in London alone, a sweet should seem to be endorsing knife culture.
Government figures released this week showed 350 knife crimes are committed in England and Wales every day.
Mrs Evans said: "I bought him these sweets for after school, not realising what they were.
"I felt quite sick as my son turned round and said Look mum, this looks like a knife'.
"It's an exact copy of a butterfly knife but instead of a blade there is a long boiled sweet.
"It isn't obvious at all from the packaging. It's not a mistake, it has deliberately been designed like that and it's even called Flick 'n' Lick'.
"It encourages kids to play with these sweets like they're a knife and I just think that's really wrong."
Mrs Evans believes the product is sending a bad message to kids and wants shops to take action to prevent these sweets from ending up in youngsters' hands.
She said: "They shouldn't be selling them. With everything that's going on with knives at the moment it makes it even worse, it's like they are promoting it.
"My husband, David, informed the Co-op.
"Parents need to be made aware that these sweets are being sold. Swizzels Matlow who make them are a big company so they must be selling them elsewhere across the country.
"Maybe shops with a conscience could stop selling them."
Russell's headteacher at St George's Primary School Trevor Jameson said Mr Evans had shown him the sweets and he would be addressing the rest of the pupils at assembly to voice his concerns.
Mr Jameson said: "Given the current climate with all the knife crime going on this is not the sort of thing we should be encouraging.
"These things are obviously aimed at young children but they are not the sort of thing I would buy for my grandchildren."
A spokesman for the Co-op group told the Dorset Echo the sweets would be removed from the Easton store and all other Co-op outlets across the country.
She said: "This product is being withdrawn from Co-op stores throughout the company as it is not suitable for supply in our branches.
"We apologise to any customers who have been offended by these items."
Andrew Matlow of sweet manufacturers Swizzels Matlow said the product could not be perceived in any way' as a knife and this was the first time any issue over the Flick 'n' Lick lolly had been raised.
He said: "It really resembles nothing like a flick knife - it is essentially a lollipop which is oblong with no jagged or sharp edges and it doesn't actually flick up. It has been out in excess of five years. We haven't even had a single complaint.
"I think the person who reported it is a bit sensationalist and has considerably exaggerated any possible threat."
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