New legislation introduced to ban 'zombie-style' knives and machetes

Under the measures, first announced by the Prime Minister last year and laid before Parliament on Thursday (January 25), it will be illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport these zombie-style knives and machetes.

The Government is urging anyone with one of these dangerous weapons to voluntarily hand it into a knife surrender bin, before the official surrender and compensation scheme is launched in the summer.

The Home Office says this will “get these knives off our streets as soon as possible, while giving people in possession an opportunity to hand them in without legal implications”.

The full ban will come into in force in September, after which anyone in possession of one of these knives will face a prison sentence.

The Government said it will be working with police, communities and partners to ensure there is public awareness of the surrender scheme, which have been implemented in the past to accompany knife bans.

Earlier this month, actor Idris Elba also shone a light on the urgent national issue of knife crime with his ‘Don’t Stop Your Future’ campaign.

Zombie-style knives are just as dangerous as traditional zombie knives, which were banned in 2016, but they do not have the same distinct images or threatening wording that incites violence.

The police have identified that zombie-style knives are increasingly used in criminality, emerging on the back of the 2016 ban when some retailers exploited this loophole to keep selling these dangerous weapons but evade the law.

The measures being introduced will put an end to this technicality, the Home Office said.

The latest legislation is just one part of a package of measures being introduced by the Government to strengthen existing knife crime laws, which are already among the toughest in the world.

It is already illegal to carry any knife in public “without good purpose”, carrying a sentence of four years in prison. In 2019, so-called ‘cyclone knives’ were also banned.

Since 2019, police have taken 120,000 knives off the streets through stop and search and other targeted police action.

Knife crime has gone down six per cent since 2019 and hospital admissions for under-25s involved in stabbings have fallen by 26 per cent.

The Criminal Justice Bill will go further by increasing the maximum sentence for the possession of banned weapons from six months to two years, while anyone caught selling knives to under-18s, including online, will also face two years behind bars.

Police will also be given new powers to seize and destroy knives found on private premises if there are reasonable grounds to suspect the blade will be used in a serious crime. Previously, police could not seize knives found during a search on a property, even if they had suspicions of criminal use.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Knife crime continues to take precious lives away, and I am determined to put an end to this senseless violence.

“We must stop these dangerous knives ending up on our streets and in the hands of criminals. We cannot let them be sold to children, and we must give young people a way out of violence.

“That is why I have expedited the ban on zombie-style machetes and we are increasing the maximum sentence for selling knives to under 18s. We will continue to invest in youth

Further guidance on how the surrender and compensation scheme will operate will be published in June.

Steel Warriors head of operations Christian d’Ippolito said:  “Steel Warriors welcome the steps being taken by the government to strengthen its tough knife crime laws to keep dangerous knives off our streets. Weapons like these should not be available to young people, they have no place in modern society and should not be glorified.

“At Steel Warriors we believe that lives should be built by steel, not destroyed by it. We melt down confiscated knives and recycle them into outdoor gyms, we then provide free community classes to transform the lives of young people affected by crime, violence and social exclusion, giving them the confidence they need to create positive futures.”

During a visit to Kent Police today, the Home Secretary saw first-hand how Home Office-funded youth violence prevention projects are helping steer young people away from violent crime.

Recent independent evaluation has shown that the Government’s Violence Reduction Units, in combination with hotspot policing patrols, have prevented an estimated 3,220 hospital admissions for violent injury since 2019 in areas where the programme operates.

The legislation laid in Parliament will amend the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

London Assembly Labour’s Policing and Crime spokesperson, Unmesh Desai AM, said: “Londoners have been waiting for 8 years for this ban and now, after all this time, their ban does not go far enough. As well as zombie knives, we need ninja swords and other weapons banned as well.

“Those profiting off of these knives need to be held to account too. I want to see consequences for traders who are putting them on the streets in the first place, along with online retailers and social media sites who allow bad faith actors to push pro-knife messages. The minister must make sure that enforcement is properly funded too.

“We know that interventions like this work. Following my campaign for the Government to ban corrosive substances, Londoners have seen a marked decrease in acid attacks. They have the chance to replicate this success by bringing forward a comprehensive ban on dangerous knives.

“The Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit is giving thousands of young people opportunities and diverting them away from crime  – but we need more action to prevent losing more Londoners to knives. The Government must bring forward a strong and comprehensive ban as soon as possible.”