New crossbow laws in England after Bushey triple murder

New crossbow laws could be coming to England after a triple killing in Bushey in Hertfordshire rocked the nation. Ministers will move “at pace” to review the law on crossbow ownership, the security minister has said, after three women were killed in a suspected crossbow attack in Hertfordshire.

Dan Jarvis said Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, was “very carefully” examining the laws. “These are clearly very serious and pressing matters,” Jarvis told BBC Breakfast. Asked about the suitability of the existing legislation, which allows people aged 18 and above to buy and own a crossbow without needing to register it or get a licence, he said: “I think that is an entirely reasonable challenge.”

He continued: “We’ll want to look very carefully at the legislation that’s in place at the moment and we’ll need to come to a conclusion sooner rather than later as to whether the current legislation is appropriate or not. If we decide that it isn’t – and I think you raise a really important point about the ability of people to buy these particular weapons – then we’ll need to make changes to the legislation. But we need to do this properly, there needs to be due process.”

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She will want to look at the evidence that already has been collected and look at the circumstances not just of what happened yesterday but of other incidents as well," he told BBC radio today. “We are seized by the seriousness and the importance of this and I think you will be aware we have made a manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls in our country over a 10-year period.”

Kyle Clifford, 26, was caught in the Hilly Fields area of Enfield by armed police and paramedics. Police said the suspect was found this afternoon and is receiving medical treatment after being found with injuries. No shots were fired by officers.

It comes after a police manhunt after Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, were found seriously injured at a home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, at about 19:00 on Tuesday and later died at the scene.

Jarvis added: “We will make a judgment as early as we are able as to whether the current legislative framework is appropriate and if it’s not we will change it, because nothing is more important than ensuring the safety of the public,” he said.