Free Knife With Your Hoodie?

 A jacket being sold in Britain has sparked controversy after a shopper discovered it came with a free built-in pocket knife.

The British high street chain T.K.Maxx specializes in budget clothing and had been stocking the $105 hooded coats that had a 2.5-inch blade on the end of a chain concealed in an inner pocket.

Shopper Steve Gale discovered the sharp end of fashion when he found one of the coats on sale at the store.

He told the U.K. newspaper the Sun: “I pulled the chain and out came this knife. I couldn’t believe it. It was actually part of the coat. Imagine how you would feel if you bought that for your kid.” 

The store is now being heavily criticized for appearing to promote knives as a fashion accessory, at a time when the murder rate among teenagers is on the rise. However, T.K.Maxx denies it even knew the coats came with knives attached.

Gale condemned the hoodie while talking to the Sun, “What has it come to when clothes become weapons? It’s just encouraging kids to go out with a knife.”
But is this an overreaction and just a sign of the times?

The rise in knife crime and gang culture has been making headlines in Britain throughout the year, creating a culture of fear in this country when it comes to knives.

The murder rate is on the rise. So far this year 27 teenagers have been stabbed to death in London, compared with 26 for 2007. Scotland Yard has said that tackling knife crime has become its “No. 1 priority.”

However, the coat was made in Switzerland, a place where these types of knives are readily available and still viewed as a useful tool. The country also doesn’t suffer from Britain’s growing problem of teenage knife crime.

The mistake has drawn particular criticism as about a year ago, one of T.K.Maxx’s sales assistants was stabbed to death on the shop floor, according to the U.K. newspaper the Daily Mail.

T.K.Maxx, a sister company of America's T.J. Maxx, claims that it had no idea that the Swiss-branded coats came with a knife and that is has now removed the jackets from its shelves.

A  T.K.Maxx representative told ABC News that “recently we became aware that a Swiss-branded coat on sale in store included a pocket penknife as a promotional gift. Once aware of this issue, we followed all necessary procedures to remove the items swiftly from the supply chain.”

The representative added that the store “supports and enforces all laws with regard to the sale of knives.”

Questions remain about how the store did not know it was selling a coat with a penknife.