‘Real change is happening’ as tens of thousands of knives are taken off streets

Tens of thousands of knives have been seized by police and handed in through surrender schemes as the mother of a murdered teenager said “real change is happening”.

Nearly 60,000 blades have been taken away in England and Wales as part of Government efforts to halve knife crime within a decade, as latest data shows knife murders have dropped in the last year.

Some 7,512 weapons were removed through the month-long ninja sword surrender scheme before the blades were banned from August under Ronan’s Law.

The law change is named after 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, who was yards away from his Wolverhampton home when he was murdered with a ninja sword in 2022, in a case of mistaken identity.

Tougher age verification checks and online sales rules for buying knives are other measures also expected to be introduced under the Crime and Policing Bill currently going through Parliament.

Ronan’s family and mother Pooja Kanda have been campaigning for the ban and stronger measures since his death.

Reacting to the seizures, Ms Kanda said: “Thanks to the new amnesty scheme, which took place a month before the ban was implemented, over 7,500 dangerous weapons have already been surrendered, and knife-enabled robberies have fallen nationally by 10%, with a nearly 30% drop in the West Midlands region.

“Real change is happening — in memory of Ronan and for the safety of every young person.”

Under the surrender scheme that ran in July, weapons could be handed over in knife surrender bins or local police stations, and anti-knife crime campaigner Faron Paul, of FazAmnesty, toured London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester in an “amnesty van” to help get rid of dangerous blades.

Some 47,795 zombie knives and machetes were also surrendered last year, the Home Office said, while 3,334 knives were retrieved by Border Force and 618 through operations to tackle county lines drug dealing.

There were no national knife surrender schemes in 2023/2024.

Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Too many young lives are lost each year to knife crime.

“This Government is determined to halve knife crime. We are making progress, but we won’t stop until we meet that goal.

“We will pursue this mission relentlessly, doing everything we can to get these weapons off our streets.”

Latest crime figures for England and Wales show 196 knife-enabled homicides were recorded in the year to June, down by 18% from 239 in the previous 12 months.

Overall 518 homicides were recorded in the year to June, including 444 offences of murder and 68 of manslaughter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is the lowest level since current methods of reporting began in 2003.

Figures also show there were 51,527 knife offences recorded by police forces in the 12 months to June, down year on year by 5% and the first drop in four years.

Patrick Green, chief executive of knife crime prevention charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said: “The removal of large and dangerous weapons, particularly ninja swords in significant quantities, is a critical achievement.

“It’s a powerful step toward making our streets safer and protecting young lives from senseless violence.”