Ban on zombie-style knives and machetes to come into force

Police figures suggest the number of crimes involving large blades and swords has nearly doubled in the past five years.

The number of crimes involving machetes, swords or zombie knives has nearly doubled in five years, police figures suggest.

Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in 2023 the three types of weapons were mentioned in more than 14,000 crimes recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales.

In 2019, there were 7,159 offences recorded as involving the large blades, which rose to 14,195 in 2023.

We're acutely conscious that bans and the legislation and enforcement is only one part of the equation, and we know that there's a lot for us to do across the full range of our policing activities to deter young people from violence

Gavin Stephens, National Police Chiefs’ Council

Nearly 10,000 of the offences recorded in 2023 involved machetes, double the number from five years before, the broadcaster reported.

On Tuesday a ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes comes into force, following 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.

Chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Gavin Stephens welcomed the ban, but said enforcement is only one part of reducing knife crime.

He said: “We’re acutely conscious that bans and the legislation and enforcement is only one part of the equation, and we know that there’s a lot for us to do across the full range of our policing activities to deter young people from violence.

“We’re not going to solve the problem of knife crime just by one aspect of it.”

Technology is currently being developed that would allow police to detect people carrying knives from a much longer distance away.

New systems, currently at the prototype stage, could first be used on large crowds such as concertgoers or at train stations, scanning passers-by who pass by two points without needing to pass through a detection arch.

It is hoped that the technology could be deployed in the next few years.

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.

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.

Patrick Green from the Ben Kinsella Trust said in June that online marketplaces have little or no age verification, are selling the weapons at reasonably cheap prices – with machetes and zombie knives sometimes selling for around £20 – and can deliver purchases to someone’s door the next day.