Zombie Knives Ban: ‘If Mine’s Bigger, I’m Gonna Win’

Buying a zombie knife is as easy as ordering takeout, says Matthew (20). He got his first knife, a Rambo-style one, at age 16.

On a quiet country road south of Luton, Matthew – which is not his real name – says that “everyone” has one.

“They feel like they have to do it,” he says, behind a balaclava pulled over his face. “If you’ve got a switchblade and someone pulls a Rambo on you, you think, ‘Why don’t I get a bigger one?’

“If you have the bigger gun, you have a better chance. If my knife is bigger than theirs, I’m going to win.” But Matthew says he’s ready to hand it over.

“Grow up… I realize it’s not worth it, I’ve lost people.”

From Tuesday, it will be illegal to possess ‘zombie-style’ knives and machetes in England and Wales.

The new legislation will close a legal loophole and make it a criminal offence to possess, make, transport or sell a wide range of so-called ‘statement’ knives, which are favoured by criminal gangs.

Zombie-style knives and machetes are defined as weapons with a blade longer than 20 cm and typically having a serrated cutting edge.

An amnesty and compensation scheme is in place to encourage people to hand in their weapons before the ban takes effect.

But Matthew doesn’t hand his machete over to the police. Instead, he hands it over to a man named Faron Paul, an anti-knife campaigner who runs a gun amnesty business.

Faron knows all too well how devastating knife crime can be. He nearly lost his life after being stabbed. Now he travels around the UK collecting hundreds of knives from people who want to get rid of them. They are then handed over to the police or burned.

“I see a lot of Rambo knives and zombie knives,” he tells BBC News. “They’re the most common knives I see. It’s hard to keep up with all the messages I get from all over the UK.”

Faron, who has run the amnesty service since 2018, says the knives are getting bigger.

Figures from the BBC show that police are increasingly finding large knives involved in crimes.

The number of recorded crimes involving machetes, swords or zombie knives has nearly doubled in five years, according to figures obtained through requests under the Government Information (Public Access) Act.

According to data from 32 police regions in England and Wales, these types of large, flat-topped weapons were listed in more than 14,000 crime logs in 2023.

This number alone amounts to almost 10,000 machetes – double the number five years earlier.

While zombie knives and other large knives are covered by the new ban, not all swords are.

Ronan Kanda, 16, was murdered in June 2022 in a case of mistaken identity just a stone’s throw from his family home in Wolverhampton.

Pooja Kanda, Ronan’s mother, wants the online sale of all large knives to be banned.

“It was a sword that pierced my child’s heart. I’m shocked that they were available when this happened. And I’m even more shocked that they’re still available after what happened to Ronan.”

The government’s “homicide index” began recording the type of knife used in murders and other killings in April 2022. So far, only one year’s worth of data has been published.

The report shows that there were 244 murders involving sharp objects in England and Wales in the year to March 2023.

Of these, 14 were machetes, seven were zombie knives, and three were swords. Kitchen knives were the most common type of sharp instrument used to kill, used in 101 murders.

According to Ronan’s sister Nikita, young people are increasingly attracted to larger knives.

“It’s about the culture around selling machetes, zombie knives and swords and things like that.”

She says the teenager who killed Ronan was “seduced” by large zombie knives with curved edges and “stupid, silly, writing on them”.

“The stuff that’s really in fashion right now,” she adds, attributing it to the availability of the guns online.

Back in south London, Faron is on his way to collect two machetes from a 21-year-old man he says he bought after he was kidnapped and stabbed 12 times.

Jon (not his real name) was attacked in 2022 by former school friends who he believed were after money.

“I was on my way back from the store at night and they took me to a field,” Jon says. “They wanted me to tell them where my money was. I think they thought I had money because I had Instagram.

“Someone cut my arm with a machete,” he said. “The stab wound in my thigh was only a few inches away from hitting a major blood supply, so it could have been serious.”

After the attack, Jon decided to buy ‘something of the same size’ to protect himself, but he feels this is no longer necessary.

Many of the knives Faron collects are now so large that they no longer fit into the amnesty bins, which are dotted around police stations across London.

Even with the ban in place and the recent amnesty, he says it is often too difficult for some people “to do the right thing.” Many young people are afraid to hand in knives at police stations, he adds.

Jon’s is one of dozens of knives Faron has collected over the past few weeks.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, in addition to Tuesday’s new knife legislation, there is also a plan to ban ninja swords.

The government has also commissioned a study into the way knives are sold online, which will be completed before the end of the year.

“This will identify any gaps in the law regarding how these weapons are being obtained illegally online,” the Home Office spokesperson said.

For Jon, it was “easy” to buy his “statement” knives online.

“They were the cheapest online. There were no ID checks. I did what I felt was necessary.”