Crimes involving zombie knives on the rise as ban starts

New figures obtained by the ECHO shows crimes carried out by children using 'zombie knives' more than doubled in 2023 compared to the previous year. Zombie-style knives and machetes - defined as weapons with blades over eight inches in length and normally with a serrated cutting edge - were outlawed from today, Tuesday, September 24.

Zombie knives have been banned from 2016 but the new legislation broadens the definition of the weapons and closes a loophole that allowed sales to continue.

The weapons have been used in a number of devastating incidents across the UK in recent years - most recently, on the eve of the ban when 15-year-old Daejaun Campbell was stabbed to death in London with what is thought to have been a zombie knife.

The weapons, inspired by horror films and previously sold as collectors' items, seem to appeal to young people. Figures obtained by the ECHO through the Freedom of Information Act showed in 2022 that Merseyside Police recorded 27 incidents involving under-18s using a zombie knife or machete during a crime. The following year this number had steeply risen to 59 incidents and, in the first five months of this year, there were 31 crimes perpetrated by children using the deadly weapons.

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These figures are set against the backdrop of a rise in the use of such weapons across the country. Freedom of Information data obtained by the BBC revealed more than 14,000 zombie-knife related crimes were recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales in 2023. In 2019, there were 7,159 offences recorded involving the large blades.

Nationally the use of zombie knives in fatal incidents has made for grim reading. While the death of 15-year-old Daejaun on Sunday, September 22 was the last fatal incident before the ban came into effect, other incidents that have resulted in a tragedy include the murder of Cody Fisher - killed with a zombie knife on a nightclub dance floor on Boxing Day 2022 - and Ronan Kanda, 16, who was stabbed outside his family home in Wolverhampton in June of the same year.

Ronan's mum Pooja today told this year's Labour Conference, again held in Liverpool, about the ease in which one of her son's killers bought a ninja sword and machete. She said: "There was no duty of care taken by anyone involved. Knife crime is terrifying communities and destroying families like mine.

"Too many mothers get the devastating news that I got, telling you that your child has been stabbed to death and is not coming back. In that moment your entire existence changes forever."

Merseyside has not seen a fatal incident involving the use of a zombie knife in recent years, although the area has been devastated by knife crime including the fatal stabbing of Ava White, 12, in 2022 and the deaths of three young girls - Bebe King, Alice Da Silva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe - in a mass stabbing in July this year. However, there have been a number of incidents in recent years involving zombie knives which show how accessible they are to young people.

In 2018 an eight-year-old child was commended by Merseyside Police after they found a deadly zombie knife near to Netherton Park Neighbourhood Centre. The following year a 16-year-old teenager who pulled out a "zombie-style knife" was among a group of fighters taking part in a mass brawl in Liverpool city centre.

More recently, officers recovered a stolen vehicle in Walton after Halloween 2023. Officers found the car with its engine running while rolling along the road. When they carried out a search of the car they recovered a meat cleaver and two large zombie knives. Six people were arrested.

And in July this year, Merseyside Police confirmed as part of its investigations to take the weapons off the streets, that officers arrested and then charged a 15-year-old boy with multiple offences in connection with the sale of weapons online. He was sentenced to a four-month referral order at youth court.

Merseyside Police said: "There is no good reason for anyone to own a zombie-style knife or machete. These are dangerous, intimidating weapons that have no place in people’s homes or on our streets."

Dr Robert Hesketh, a criminologist at the School of Justice Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, told the ECHO there are several factors as to why the weapons may appeal to children. He said: "Firstly, media influence. Zombie knives have gained popularity in recent years due to their portrayal in movies, TV shows, and video games.

"This type of exposure can and often does glamorise and normalise their use among young people. Then you have the inevitable peer pressure, young people often seek acceptance and validation from their peers. If their friends or social circles are involved in carrying or using zombie knives, then this can prove to be a big influence to participate as well.

"Then we have status. Carrying a knife like this may provide a sense of power and masculine status for some young individuals. They may perceive it as a way to establish dominance or deterrent against potential threats, even though the actual use of such knives for self-defence is highly unlikely or illegal."

Today's ban also marks the end of an amnesty that allowed people to hand in zombie-style knives and machetes at police stations around the country. Merseyside Police previously said the force had received a number of weapons since the start of the surrender.