Tens of thousands of zombie knives surrendered ahead of total ban

The law changes at the end of the month. Soon it will be illegal to own a zombie knife. But what are they? And why are they so dangerous?

Transcript

00:00In a bid to crack down on dangerous weapons on the streets, the law will change around

00:06zombie knives on the 24th of September. It will soon be illegal to own this type of blade

00:10which have a plain cutting edge, a sharp pointed end and are over 8 inches long. They also

00:16have more than one of the following, a serrated cutting edge over 2 inches long, more than

00:20one hole in the blade, spikes or more than two sharp points in the blade. But just how

00:25much of an issue is knife crime in the UK though? Home office stats at the start of

00:29the year showed a whopping rise of 77% compared with the previous year. Sentencing statistics

00:35from the Ministry of Justice show that in the year ending March 2023, there were just

00:39over 19,000 cautions and convictions made for possession of a knife or offensive weapon.

00:45Juveniles, those aged between 10 and 17, were the offenders in around 18% of cases.

00:52Until the law changes at the end of the month, owners of zombie blades are being asked to

00:55hand them in. To some success, one wholesaler has surrendered more than 35,000 of the blade

01:01type. But is the law change too little too late?