‘Zombie’ machete crackdown: Owning or selling double-edged serrated chopping blades will be made illegal in battle against gang culture

• It will soon be illegal to sell or own the double-edged, serrated chopping blade 

Intimidating ‘zombie’ machetes are to be banned as part of a huge crackdown on violent gang culture.

It will soon be illegal to own or sell the double-edged, serrated chopping blades, that have become popular amongst criminals due to their threatening appearance. 

The new offence will be introduced for anyone possessing the blade ‘with the intention to endanger life or cause fear or violence’.

The maximum sentence for importation, manufacturing, possession or sale of the weapons will be two years, the Home Office added. 

Policing minister Chris Philp said the newly-prohibited weapons ‘serve no purpose but to inflate criminal egos and endanger lives’, adding that there is ‘no reason to own them’. 

This shocking photo shows the moment a young man waves around a machete at Notting Hill carnival

Intimidating ‘zombie’ machetes are to be banned as part of a huge crackdown on violent gang culture. Pictured: Examples of ‘zombie knives’ 

‘That is why we are banning these knives and making sentencing more severe, so our communities can be reassured that this violent criminality will face the punishments they deserve, and lives will be saved,’ he said. 

Meanwhile anti-knife crime charity Steel Warriors welcomed the ban on weapons that ‘have no place in modern society’. 

Police will now be given powers to seize and destroy any knives found on private property if there are ‘reasonable grounds to believe the blade will be used in a serious crime’, the Home Office said. 

The ban follows a string of similar announcements made by a succession of home secretaries in recent years.

The current Government proposed the measure in April and it will become legislated ‘when Parliament allows’ following a public consultation. 

The possession of so-called ‘zombie’ knives, currently defined by the Government as a blade with ‘a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence’, is already illegal.

Under the new measures, the Home Office said the definition will include any bladed weapon more than eight inches long with a plain-cutting edge and sharp pointed end that also has either a serrated cutting edge, more than one hole in the blade or multiple sharp points like spikes.

The Sentencing Council will also be asked to consider amending guidelines for the possession of bladed articles and offensive weapons so that these are treated more seriously than possession of non-prohibited weapons.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the newly prohibited weapons ‘should have been banned years ago’

Policing minister Chris Philp said the newly-prohibited weapons ‘serve no purpose but to inflate criminal egos and endanger lives’

The Home Office said specific exemptions will be made for ‘legitimate articles’ such as objects of historical importance and those that are hand-made, in order to avoid negative effects on the antiques market.

It is hoped that the changes will close a loophole on the ‘zombie knives’ ban introduced in 2016, which has seen some retailers continuing to sell the dangerous weapons without removing certain banned features. 

While the move has been welcomed by many, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the newly prohibited weapons ‘should have been banned years ago’.

She went on to accuse the Government of failing to close the gaps in the current legislation. 

National Police Chiefs’ Council knife crime lead, Commander Stephen Clayman, said the proposals would offer ‘robust measures’ to tackle knife crime ‘when used appropriately’.

But Ms Cooper said: ‘This is the sixth time in seven years that the Conservatives have promised to outlaw zombie knives. Time and again the Tories have been hopelessly weak and slow to tackle this serious and dangerous crime.’

In April Mr Philp defended the plans, which will be introduced across England and Wales, in the face of accusations that they were ‘too little, too late’.

Shadow policing minister Sarah Jones told MPs the measures were a ‘smokescreen to distract from (the Government’s) appalling record’ but Mr Philp said they would help to ‘go even further’ in tackling knife crime, building on the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

The number of people killed with a knife in England and Wales in 2021/22 was the highest on record for 76 years, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

About four in 10 – 282 – homicides were committed using a knife or sharp instrument in the year to March 2022. Some 51 teenagers aged between 13 and 19 were among the victims.

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