Anti-knife campaigners call for tough action against companies still selling illegal knives

Our investigation found a number of websites are still selling zombie knives and machetes, no questions asked.

Author: Stan TomkinsonPublished 7th Oct 2024

Anti knife-crime campaigners in Lancashire are calling for tougher action to be taken against online retailers still selling illegal knives.

This comes after our investigation last week found zombie knives and machetes can still be easily bought online in the UK, despite new laws banning the potentially lethal weapons.

A simple Google search will take people to websites selling zombie knives, where they can be purchased no questions asked.

Byron Highton's brother Jon-Jo was killed by knife crime in 2014, he has since been campaigning for change and educating schools across the country with The JJ Effect.

He says there has to be more focus on the supply of the weapons: "Knife crime is the way it is because companies are not being controlled, and they are using evil selling tactics to change the behaviour of young people to buy products.

"Kids now at 10, 11, 12 years old are not talking about Action Man and Barbie anymore, but they're talking stabbing people up, they're addicted to e-cigarettes.

"We need to tackle these companies now because if its bad now, imagine what it is going to be like in another 10 years."

Zombie-style knives listed for sale on a website

Byron adds that he feels social media companies must do more to limit what young people are exposed to online.

He says knife crime has become fashionable: "We need to understand that no matter how good a song is, how good a piece of clothing is, no matter how good a company advertises their stuff to us, we have got to make sure we never put products a child's life."

The Government introduced a ban on the blades in September, following a month-long knife amnesty, allowing people to hand them into police stations.

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