Police in Peterborough hope a ban on zombie knives will keep more people safe

Police in Peterborough hope adding Zombie knives to the list of dangerous prohibited items banned, will help to keep more people safe.

The ban starts today and means it is illegal to own zombie-style knives and machetes. Other items already banned include butterfly knives, Samurai swords and push daggers.

This follows 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.

Official figures show that knife crime rose by 7% in England and Wales in the year to December 2023, compared with the previous 12 months, but the total 49,489 offences recorded remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Part of the increase was driven by a rise in knifepoint robberies, which went up by a fifth year on year.

There are concerns about how easy it is to buy knives online

Knife-enabled homicides stood at 239 last year, broadly unchanged on the 235 recorded in 2022 and also lower than pre-pandemic figures.

However, in the year to March 2023, 82% of teenage homicide victims were killed with a knife, compared with 73% in the previous year.

Concern remains among law enforcement about how easy it is to buy knives online, with illegal dealers selling blades via social media, including to under-18s.

Speaking about the ban, Tactical lead for knife crime in the Cambridgeshire force, Karl Secker, said:

"It's another knife that's banned, which is fantastic. It's another weapon that is being made illegal that hopefully won't harm someone.

They've reduced the risk of someone having these knives out on the street

"However, there are always going to people that don't care about the legality of something and will do it anyway, but it's just we now have the power to challenge and to arrest and to manage it through the criminal pathway. We can try and prevent that person doing it.

"Carrying a knife in itself is a crime. Knives are objects that are used to harm people and objects.

"The intent is there to harm someone. If there's a knife on the street, it's more likely to be used on someone rather than in the kitchen where it's going to be used on food.

"There is no use for a zombie knife other than to harm someone."

So it's a case of trying to work with the community and educate them

"It's a massive weapon that has sharpened serrated edges and there's just no need for it."

"So they have brought in this ban because these knives slipped through previous legislation."

"Now they've covered that whole, which is fantastic."

"They've reduced the risk of someone having these knives out on the street."

"The effect of one stabbing or one death can have ramifications across a whole community. Especially Peterborough where there's been some pretty horrific crimes."

"So it's a case of trying to work with the community and educate them about using Crime Stoppers to report anonymously people carrying knives."

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