Online ‘grey markets’ are used by bulk-buyers of knives, prohibited or otherwise and sold indiscriminately across social media accounts and peer networks. Police have already taken action against a number of such traders, but the law needs to be stronger. That’s according to an ‘end to end review of online knife sales’.
The report, by the NPCC (National Police Chiefs’ Council) lead for knife crime, Commander Stephen Clayman, proposes strengthening age verification through a move to buyer identification at sale and delivery’. In the 82-page report he writes: “Other aspects, such as regulating the knife sales industry and grey markets needs change too, but some of this will take longer given the consultation required to make the changes. It may be possible to deliver some of these recommendations incrementally, concentrating with online retailing first, before turning to the more traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers.”
As for the social media and technology platforms, Clayman noted that ‘they have an over-reliance on their global policies to operate here, which is not sufficient’. The UK’s new Online Safety Act (OSA) will ensure that they must focus more on protecting harmful content from UK users, he wrote, ‘but there is further work necessary with this sector and there are loopholes here in respect of knife sales’. He warned that work on the UK market would require ‘extra vigilance’ and monitoring of how knives (including prohibited weapons) are imported. As background and as the report stated, ‘between 2020 and 2024 the number of violent and sexual offences involving a knife recorded by police forces in England and Wales has increased’.
The Home Office says that a new offence of possessing an offensive weapon with intent for violence will be introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill which will come with a prison sentence of up to four years. The UK Government will also run a consultation later this year on whether online retailers selling knives should have a registration scheme so that only responsible sellers are able to sell knives.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “It is horrifying how easy it is for young people to get hold of knives online even though children’s lives are being lost, and families and communities are left devastated as a result.
“Not enough has been done to tackle the online market over recent years which is why we made it an urgent priority in our manifesto and the measures today will be underpinned by investment for a new dedicated police unit to go after those who are breaking the law and putting children and teenagers lives at risk.
“We are honouring our commitment to introduce Ronan’s Law in memory of Ronan Kanda who was tragically killed in 2022. I am so grateful to the Kanda family for their endless perseverance in ensuring governments take the right actions to protect young people from further tragedy.”
Yvette Cooper commissioned Commander Clayman in autumn 2024 to make the review after the Southport knife murders in midsummer 2024.
The measures will collectively be known as ‘Ronan’s Law’ after Ronan Kanda who was killed in 2022 in a case of mistaken identity near his home in Wolverhampton aged 16. Ronan’s killers, who were also teenagers, illegally bought lethal weapons online and collected them from the Post Office on the day of the attack, with no age or identity verification. Ronan’s mother Pooja Kanda said: “In 2023, we sat in the courtroom where we were shown a Ninja sword and 25-plus bladed articles. Looking at them, I knew my son didn’t stand a chance. Without proper ID checks, the online sale of these bladed articles played a crucial role in this tragedy. How was this allowed? A 16-year-old managed to get these weapons online and sold these weapons to other people. I knew we could not go on like this, and our fight for what was right had begun. Proper ID checks by sellers, as well as postal and delivery services, played a crucial role.”
Photo courtesy of the Home Office; Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Khalsa Academy in the West Midlands on February 18; she’s pictured left with Pooja Kanda, the mother of Ronan Kanda, ahead of the announcement of Ronan’s Law.
Online harms against women
The media regulator Ofcom, which has the task of making reality of the Online Safety Act, meanwhile has set out measures that tech firms should take to tackle online harms against women and girls, such as intimate image abuse. The Act requires Ofcom to produce industry guidance setting out how providers can take action against harmful content and activity that disproportionately affects women and girls. Ofcom is inviting feedback on draft guidance, by May 23.
