The Home Office is holding a consultation on whether to give police further powers to enable them to seize, retain and destroy bladed articles of any length held in private, or whether the powers should be limited to articles of a certain length, even if the items themselves are not prohibited
The consultation document states that in the year to September 2022, in some 39 per cent of murders, a knife or sharp instrument was the method of killing. Besides, thousands of people are seeking hospital treatment for stab wounds each year, and besides some offences are never reported to police.
Hence the effort to disrupt knife possession and knife crime. The document states: “We have identified certain types of machetes and large outdoor knives that do not seem to have a practical use and appear to be designed to look menacing and be favoured by those who want to use these knives as weapons. We intend to include them in the list of prohibited offensive weapons set out in the schedule to The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988.”
The consultation runs to June 6.
Comments
The consultation has been welcomed by the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) Marc Jones, and by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for knife crime, Commander Stephen Clayman, who said: “The proposals follow extensive collaboration between the Home Office and the NPCC National Knife Crime working group. Together, we have worked tirelessly to develop practical, sustainable solutions to remove these lethal weapons from our streets.
“This consultation period provides the opportunity for the public, businesses, and relevant organisations to contribute their experience and expertise in shaping these proposals. By working together, we can achieve a stronger approach to tackling knife crime.”
The three urban police forces, the Metropolitan, West Midlands and Greater Manchester are the three areas with the highest volume of knife-enabled crime. Compared with the year to September 2021, knife or sharp instrument offences recorded by the Met increased by 11 per cent to 11,517 offences in the year to September 2022, while West Midlands saw an increase of 38pc to 5,006 offences, and Greater Manchester remained at a similar level with 3,447 offences.
In August 2016, the Home Office added “zombie knives” to the prohibitions, as knives that ‘had no legitimate use and were designed to look menacing, intimidate and encourage violence’. In 2019, “cyclone knives” were added; both typically bought on the internet.
