People are being asked to drop their knives in deposit boxes like this one (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Owners of ‘zombie-style’ knives and machetes have been handed a deadline to give up the lethal weapons or face time behind bars.
For one month, those in possession of the blades will be able to deposit them at police stations across England and Wales and receive compensation.
The national surrender scheme will begin in exactly a week, on August 26, and run until September 23.
A new law adding the knives to the list of dangerous prohibited items will come into effect the following day, September 24, with the threat of prison for anyone caught in possession of them.
In June, Metro revealed Labour was planning to introduce Ronan’s Law if it won the General Election, banning a wider range of blades and cracking down on the online sale of the weapons.
The name of the legislation paid tribute to Ronan Kanda, who was just 16 when another teenager murdered him with a ninja sword on the streets of Wolverhampton in 2022.
His killer had bought the deadly weapon over the internet using his mother’s name and was able to pick it up without any process of ID verification.
Similar weapons were used in the deaths of 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in Hainault earlier this year and Shawn Seesahai, 19, who was murdered by two 12-year-olds in Wolverhampton last year.
Daniel Anjorin, 14, was killed by a man who went on a rampage wielding a sword earlier this year (Picture: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)
However, the current moves to ban zombie-style knives were introduced by the Tories last year and approved by parliament in April, before the election.
Efforts hit a stumbling block in the House of Lords due to the difficulty in defining the blades in a way that was neither too broad – preventing the sale of useful equipment – nor too narrow, allowing suppliers to skirt the law again.
Guidance from the Home Office ahead of the new law coming into effect includes an annex with examples of the types of knives that are impacted.
Policing Minister Diana Johnson said there is ‘no legitimate need’ for anyone to own such weapons.
She added: ‘Implementing a ban on zombie-style knives is just the first step in our ambitious, dedicated plan to halve knife crime within a decade, and will closely be followed by making ninja swords illegal.
‘It is absolutely crucial that members of the public come forward and safely hand in these weapons.’
People who drop off their blades during the scheme will be able to claim standard compensation of £10, or more if they can provide evidence of how much they paid for it – such as a payment receipt.
A full list of participating police stations can be found on the Home Office website here.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
