‘We need tougher sentences for zombie knives sellers’ - West Midlands Police Commissioner speaks out

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has accused the government of not being “tough enough” when it comes to tackling zombie knives. 

The government banned the blades, defined as a weapon “with a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence”, back in 2016.

Last month, the Home Office said the Criminal Justice Bill would increase the maximum sentence for the possession of banned weapons from six months to two years, while anyone caught selling knives to under-18s, including online, would also face two years behind bars.

The government also said it was planning to ban zombie-style knives, which are just as dangerous as traditional zombie knives but do not have the same “distinct images or threatening wording.”

The police warned that zombie-style knives were increasingly being used in criminality, emerging off the back of the 2016 ban when some retailers exploited this loophole to keep selling the dangerous weapons but evade the law.

Speaking at a West Midlands Police and Crime Panel meeting this week, Mr Foster said he was “certainly supportive of the proposed ban” but added those who sell and supply zombie knives and similar weapons should face harsher punishments. “I’m not really convinced that the government is being tough enough in connection with zombie knives, I really don’t,” the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner said.

He went on to suggest the government’s proposals to increase sentences from six months to two years hadn’t gone far enough. “I don’t think personally that remotely reflects the seriousness of that level of criminality,” he said.

“I think you should be looking at far more severe sentences for those people responsible for manufacturing, importing, selling and supplying zombie knives, which have no other practical purpose other than to cause intimidation and potential death and serious injury.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the UK has “some of the strongest anti-knife laws in the world” and added it had taken 120,000 knives off the streets since 2019. We are determined to do more to end this senseless violence,” they continued.

“Just weeks ago, we banned zombie-style knives and machetes and we will not hesitate to take further action based on the advice of police chiefs and front-line officers. We are also toughening sentences for anyone caught with a banned weapon or found selling knives to under-18s, and are giving police new powers to seize any knife if they believe it might be used in criminality.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly previously said: “We must stop these dangerous knives ending up on our streets and in the hands of criminals. We cannot let them be sold to children, and we must give young people a way out of violence.”

Steel Warriors, a charity which melts knives and turns them into outdoor street gyms, added it welcomed the steps being taken by the government to strengthen its knife crime laws. “Weapons like these should not be available to young people, they have no place in modern society and should not be glorified,” its head of operations Christian d’Ippolito said.