Zombie-style knives and machetes have this week (24 September)
been added to the list of prohibited weapons in the Criminal
Justice Act 1988 as the government cracks down on dangerous
weapons with no legitimate purpose.
‘Zombie-style' is the street name given to weapons which are over
8 inches in length and often have a serrated edge, spikes or more
than 2 sharp points. A full list of the features of these knives
can be found in the guidance
for surrender of ‘zombie-style' knives and ‘zombie-style'
machetes.
NPCC lead for knife crime, Commander Stephen Clayman said:
Tackling knife crime requires all agencies and partners working
together, approaching this from a number of different
perspectives. Dealing with the accessibility of deadly and
intimidating weapons is key and we are doing all we can to
reduce how easily they can end up in the wrong hands. Many of
these ‘zombie-style' knives and machetes are clearly designed to
intimidate and cause harm, rather than serve any practical
purpose, so the ban will support us by significantly stopping
their manufacture and overall availability.
Our fight to remove knife crime from our communities has been
further strengthened with the government's recent announcements
and I look forward to leading an end-to-end review of online
knife sales. This is just part of the ongoing work and we will
continue to work in close partnership with the Home Office,
retailers and the third sector to find ways we can bring
meaningful, long-term change that will make our streets safer for
everyone.
This is just one of a package of measures being introduced by the
government to halve knife crime in a decade. Earlier this month,
the government announced that legislation is underway to ban
ninja swords and it has also commissioned the largest ever review
into how knives are sold online to identify any gaps in
legislation which will prevent these being sold illegally to
under-18s.
The Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime has also been launched,
bringing together campaign groups, families of people who have
tragically lost their lives to knife crime, young people who have
been impacted and community leaders, united in their mission to
save lives and make Britain a safer place for the next
generation.
From 24 September, anyone caught with a zombie-style knife or
machete could face time behind bars.
The ban on zombie-style knives comes at the end of a Home Office
run surrender scheme which allowed members of the public to hand
in these types of weapons, and those who wished to do so were
eligible for compensation. This scheme ended on 23 September and
anyone still in possession of these weapons should safely hand
them into their local police station or local surrender bin
immediately.
