Lancashire Police given more powers on zombie knives
A new ban on zombie knives and machetes means those who possess them could face criminal charges.
Last updated 24th Sep 2024
Lancashire Police have been given new powers to tackle knife crime and get weapons off of our streets.
This comes as a ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes comes into force, following a four-week amnesty scheme where owners were encouraged to hand the weapons into police, local authorities or knife crime charities.
The ban is part of efforts to reduce knife crime, with campaigners including actor Idris Elba pushing for the large blades to be outlawed.
The Government plans to also ban ninja swords in the future.
Sergeant Mick Johnson, from the force, says it's going to be a game changer for the police: "Prior to this law changing if I was to walk into a house and see one these, if its inside of someone's private property I couldn't do anything about it. Even if I knew that it would potentially be a weapon of danger to somebody else.
"Now that ambiguity has gone, you can't have it and you'll get dealt with.
Sergeant Johnson added: "The distance and the damage these things can do is unebeliveable.
"Even to us that are trained and with all of our equipment to prevent it, but they're the sort of thing our equipment doesn't challenge.
"The weight of them alone would be enough to cause serious injury, the blades are incredibly sharp and you don't need any training to use a knife.
"You can hurt yourself you can hurt somebody else, the sooner we get these things off the streets the better."
Lancashire police say 53 knives were handed in to designated police stations during the surrender scheme, with their pre-existing surrender bins being monitored and emptied during this time as well.
Despite the surrender period ending, Lancashire's surrender bins will remain in place across the county to provide a legal and safe way to surrender knives and bladed items, including kitchen knives that are no longer needed.