Kent Police cracks down on zombie knives

A new law comes into force banning the use of zombie knives throughout the UK.   Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00The sort of weapon no one should own, and from tomorrow, the kind that could land you behind bars.

00:06After today, if you're found to own a zombie-style knife or machete,

00:11you could be charged with possession of a dangerous weapon.

00:16But what is a zombie-style knife?

00:18Well, under new guidelines coming into force, any sharpened blades longer than 8 inches,

00:24with a serrated cutting edge, holes in the blade, spikes or two sharp points, will be made illegal.

00:33Well, for everyone out there that's got one of these, you know,

00:37maybe even in an ornamental fashion, really important you understand the danger of these.

00:42So we're encouraging people to bring them into a police station.

00:46You play a key part in keeping Kent safe from protecting people from knife-enabled crime.

00:53And what we're asking you to do is bring those in so they can be destroyed appropriately.

00:58A full list of locations for surrendering weapons can be found on the Kent Police website,

01:04but include Gravesend, Tunbridge, Sittingbourne and Folkestone.

01:09Not everyone thinks the measures will be effective, however.

01:13Up the road in Dartford, Lennox Rogers, who runs an anti-knife crime charity,

01:18says the new ban won't work.

01:21For myself, when I was in gangs carrying a knife,

01:26I don't think this law would have acted as a deterrent.

01:32Certainly not for myself and for some of the young people I deal with, it's not a deterrent.

01:39I think at the moment they don't think that the knife crime laws and sentencing is tough enough.

01:50You know, they would still rather carry a weapon like a knife to protect themselves.

01:56But with laws in the works to ban ninja swords as well as a review commissioned

02:01into how knives are being sold online,

02:03there are clear steps being taken by the government to tackle knife crime.

02:09The real question then is whether these steps will go far enough for people here in Kent.

02:15Oliver, Leader of the Sacks for KMTV in Dartford.