West-country campaigners call to hand over zombie-style knives ahead of ban
The ban comes in to force on Tuesday
Last updated 23rd Sep 2024
Campaign groups who raise awareness of the consequences of knife crime, are joining police in calling for people to surrender their zombie-style knives and machetes.
It’s ahead of a ban coming in to force on Tuesday 24th September, when it will become an offence to possess the blades.
Zombie-style knives and machetes are weapons which feature a blade over eight inches long and have either a serrated edge, multiple holes in the blade, spikes, or more than two sharp points.
From Tuesday, anyone found with this type of knife could face six months in prison.
Swindon charity Owen’s World say the ban is a step in the right direction but are calling for tougher sentences for people who get caught.
Zoe Mitchell is from the charity. She lost her son Owen Dunn in 2022 to knife crime.
“I think it’s a good thing but it’s a drop in the ocean and more needs to be done,” Zoe said, “kids can go into their mum’s kitchen drawer and get a big, massive knife out of there.
“They just need to re-write the whole book – kids are stabbing kids at twelve years old now.”
Eilish volunteers with Owen’s World and is calling on teachers and parents to talk to their children about the issue.
“We’ve started going into schools and talking to kids as young as seven and they’ve got ideas through the roof – posters and things like that.
“We need to be talking to kids as young as that about what’s going on because it happens on people’s doorstep.”
Professor Brad Evans is the Director of the Centre of the Study of Violence at the University of Bath.
“Just by simply removing the weapon is a start point” he said, “but you need to have a much more rigorous assessment of the kind of society we produce.
“While you can hope this short-term measure could have some kind of impact, we need to ask the much broader, more difficult question – why are young people killing one another?
“There is a recognition that something needs to change but how that translates into the kind of conversations we need as a society will be the important next step – we ned to recognise that nothing is off the table in this conversation.”
The Government Policing Minister, Diana Johnson said: “Too many people have access to weapons that can lead to devastating, life-changing consequences.
“There is no legitimate need for a weapon of this kind to be in our homes or on our streets.
“That is why we will continue to make sure the tightest restrictions are in place to limit the availability of these lethal weapons.
“Implementing a ban on zombie-style knives is just the first step in our ambitious, dedicated plan to halve knife crime within a decade, and will closely be followed by making ninja swords illegal."
People can anonymously dispose of weapons using safe, surrender bins, by contacting their local police, council or an anti-knife crime charity to find out about alternative options, other than police stations, in their area.