Anna Firth, MP for Southend West, is “ramping up the pressure” on her campaign to fix the Offensive Weapons Act and get zombie knives out of the community.
Reckless retailers are cashing in on a loophole within zombie knife laws, a south Essex MP claims as she steps up her efforts to change this.
This comes just weeks after a 17-year-old boy from Leigh purchased a zombie knife online and had it sent straight to his door. Police seized the two-foot zombie knife from the boy’s Leigh home over Christmas. However, the police were only about to confiscate the knife once they had found the packaging it had came in.
This is because under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, currently, police are unable to confiscate a zombie knife is there were no “violent images on the blade or the handle”. Ms Firth is now campaigning to get this changed, as if the packaging had not have been found by police, the 17-year-old boy in Leigh would have been able to keep the two-foot zombie knife.
In the House of Commons today, she said: “Over Christmas, a 17-year-old boy purchased a two-foot zombie knife online and had it sent straight to his door.
“Had police officers not had the wherewithal to look for the packaging, they would have been unable to confiscate the knife because there were no violent images on the blade or the handles, as prescribed in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.
“Will my right hon. Friend find the time for a debate on the sale of such knives and the legislation that covers them, and join me in condemning the reckless retailers cashing in one crime by circumventing the law?”
Under Offensive Weapons Act currently, you cannot possess, bring into the UK, sell, hire, lend, or provide certain knives to someone else. This includes the “zombie knife”, being a blade with (i) a cutting edge; (ii) a serrated edge; and (iii) images or words (whether on the blade or handle) that suggest that it is to be used for the purpose of violence. Ms Firth wants to remove the “descriptor of violence” which can block prosecution and confiscation of zombie knives by police.
Ms Firth added: “Knives take lives and destroy communities.
“I cannot stand by whilst a legal loophole is being abused by reckless retailers to cash in on crime and peddle dangerous weapons.
“I have now raised the issue with the policing minister and Leader of the House of Commons, making a public call for change.
“We know the problem, I have got the solution, so let’s have a safer Southend and take zombie knives out of community once and for all.”
