R-Rated Horror Movies Sold To 13-Year-Old Child

The survey tested how well retailers are complying with the law on under-age sales of DVDs and games.

It involved TSS supervised visits by two children, aged eleven and thirteen, to a range of outlets in Belfast, Newtownabbey and Ballymena, including major high street retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores and small independent outlets.

The results show that in one out of four shops, the children were able to buy DVDs intended for sale only to 15 or 18-year-olds.

In the worst examples, the 13-year-old child was sold DVDs which were classified as being for sale only to those aged 18 or over, because of their strong violent content.

Two of these were the well-known horror movie "Saw IV" and the gangster movie "Smokin' Aces". Both contain scenes of a violent nature and strong language.

The Video Recordings Act 1984 makes it a criminal offence to supply DVDs and some computer games to a person below the age marked on the classification label.

Kerry McAuley from TSS said: "While these results show some evidence of improved compliance compared to a similar survey carried out last year, it remains totally unacceptable that any children should be able to purchase such unsuitable material.

"While many of the premises visited have good systems in place to prevent such under-age sales, it is obvious that some other traders are not so diligent.

"As a result of our findings, we have issued warning letters to those traders who breached the law and investigations are continuing in respect of a number of traders who were previously warned for breaching the legislation. We will also be carrying out follow-up visits to these stores in the future."