Police 'struggling' with legislation on 'zombie knives' says expert

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Following a spate of horrific knife attacks in Hyde Park and Greenwich, knife crime charity The Ben Kinsella Trust have issued fresh calls to clamp down on deadly ‘zombie knives’ and imported weapons that make their way onto Britain’s streets. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Patrick Green from the charity explained how the horrific knives are “far too easy” to get hold of and called for stricter importation restrictions and more legislation so the police can deal with the knife epidemic sweeping Britain. The Ben Kinsella Trust was set up to raise awareness of knife crime in Britain after the senseless murder of 16-year old Ben Kinsella in Islington in 2008.

Mr Green said: “In relation to zombie knives and machetes which appear all too often on our streets.

“The police are struggling to get the correct legislation to deal with this.

“We have been waiting on the Offensive Weapons Act to be put into legislation so that police forces can stop the importation of these knives.

“They are far too easy to get and they are remarkably inexpensive as well.”

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He went on to call on the Government to act faster in tackling soaring knife crime in the UK.

The knife charity spokesman said: “We need to do far more to ban them and stop their importation into the country.

“And reduce the likelihood of young people getting hold of them.

“And stop them arriving on our streets.”

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But in a heartbreaking confession, the knife campaigner explained how the number of fatal stabbings every year in the UK show there has been “no progress” on tackling knife crime despite efforts by campaigners to get the government to act.

He stressed how “if anything this has to be a wake-up call to politicians across parties”.

According to The Ben Kinsella Trust, there were 237 Police-recorded murders involving a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months to December 2020.

While 24 children aged just 17-years-old or younger were murdered with a knife or sharp object in 2019, the highest number of children murdered over a decade.

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The charity says there were an astonishing 46,015 police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months to December 2020.

While figures from the government show in the year ending March 2020 nearly 8,000 knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with resulted in immediate custody compared with around 5,400 in the year ending March 2010.

For 71 percent of offenders, this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence

For more information, visit: https://benkinsella.org.uk/

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