A knife wholesale business in Luton, Sporting Wholesale, has given up over 35,000 of their “zombie” knives, which have been involved in numerous killings. These knives and machetes can only be used to “kill and maim,” according to Superintendent Alex House of Bedfordshire Police, who leads on knife crime. Through the government’s surrender scheme, the company will receive £10 compensation for each knife surrendered, and the weapons will be shredded and their metal recycled by a specialist company. The company declined to comment.
Sporting Wholesale imported knives in bulk and sold them to various retailers. The company owns the Anglo Arms brand, which, according to the company earlier this year, had gained a “reputation with gangs.” However, it stopped the sale of these items, according to a Sporting Wholesale website post, after supplying products to trade for over 20 years. Unfortunately, Sporting Wholesale’s knives have been involved in several killings, which led to their surrender.
Zombie knives were first outlawed in 2016, and a redefined, broader definition is expected to come into effect on September 24, 2022, in England and Wales. Possession of a sharpened blade knife measuring more than 8in (20cm) with spikes, more than two sharp points in the blade, more than one hole in the blade or a serrated cutting edge will be illegal and punishable beginning on September 24.
Bedfordshire Police, which is working to tackle a black market that could be strengthened by the stricter prohibition, is also behind the law change. Det Insp Graham Newton of the force’s anti-gangs unit authorized the new law while acknowledging that some people would try to make a profit. He asserted that detectives would be just as “inventive” as illegal sellers in trying to catch them. The home office-funded Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit in Bedfordshire collaborates with Wingman Mentors and St Giles Trust to try to prevent knife crime
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
