Minister for Police (): The Government is today
launching a 7-week consultation on new knife legislation
proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other bladed articles
in crime.
There are already strict controls on particular offensive
weapons, including certain types of knives, which are listed in
the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988. It
is an offence to sell, manufacture, hire, loan or gift these
weapons. This offence is in addition to the general offences of
possessing a knife or offensive weapon in public or on school
grounds. In England and Wales, there are twenty different weapons
listed as offensive weapons and they include items such as the
“belt buckle knife”, “butterfly knife” and “push dagger”.
There are also similar prohibitions in respect of “flick knives”
and “gravity knives” in section 1 of the Restriction of Offensive
Weapons Act 1959.
In August 2016, we added “zombie knives” to this list as we were
concerned that such knives had no legitimate use and were
designed to look menacing, intimidate and encourage violence. In
2019, we added “cyclone knives” to the list.
We are consulting on legislative measures to provide the police
with more tools to disrupt knife possession and tackle knife
crime. We have identified certain types of machetes and large
outdoor knives that do not seem to have a practical use and
appear to be designed to look menacing and be favoured by those
who want to use these knives as weapons. We intend to include
them in the list of prohibited offensive weapons set out in the
schedule to The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)
Order 1988. Weapons listed in this schedule are prohibited under
s141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. This would mean that the
manufacture, importation, sale and supply of these items would be
an offence. Possession, both in public and in private, would also
be an offence, unless a defence applies. We are inviting views
from respondents on the finer details of the description of the
items we intend to ban.
We are also consulting on whether to provide the police with
additional powers to enable them to seize, retain and destroy
bladed articles of any length held in private, or whether the
powers should be limited to articles of a certain length, even if
the items themselves are not prohibited. We consider it a
proportionate response for the police, where they are in private
property lawfully, to seize, retain and eventually destroy bladed
articles if they have good reason to believe they will be used in
crime. We would like to test this proposal with stakeholders and
other members of the public so that we ensure that the most
effective but proportionate system is put in place.
In addition, we are consulting on whether there is a need for the
Government to toughen the current penalties for selling
prohibited offensive weapons and selling bladed articles to
persons under 18, and on whether the Criminal Justice System
should treat carrying prohibited knives and offensive weapons in
public more seriously to better reflect the severity of the
offences.
Finally, we are consulting on whether it would be appropriate to
mirror firearms legislation and introduce a separate possession
offence of knives and offensive weapons with intent to injure or
cause fear of violence. This would carry a maximum penalty higher
than the current offence of possession of an offensive weapon in
public under s1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (the PCA).
In summary, we are seeking views on the following proposals:
Proposal 1: Introduction of a targeted ban of certain types of
large knives that seem to be designed to look menacing with no
practical purpose.
Proposal 2: Whether additional powers should be given to the
police to seize, retain and destroy lawfully held bladed articles
of a certain length if these are found by the police when in
private property lawfully and they have reasonable grounds to
believe that the article(s) is likely to be used in a criminal
act.
Proposal 3: Whether there is a need to increase the maximum
penalty for the importation, manufacture, sale and supply of
prohibited offensive weapons (s141 of the Criminal Justice Act
1988 and s1 Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959) and the
offence of selling bladed articles to persons under 18 (s141A of
the Criminal Justice Act 1988) to 2 years, to reflect the
severity of these offences.
Proposal 4: Whether the Criminal Justice System should treat
possession in public of prohibited knives and offensive weapons
more seriously.
Proposal 5: Whether there is a need for a separate possession
offence of bladed articles with the intention to injure or cause
fear of violence with a maximum penalty higher than the current
offence of possession of an offensive weapon under s1 of the PCA
1953.
The consultation will be live from 18 April to 06 June 2023 and a
response will be published in summer 2023.
We intend to make any changes related to the consultation as soon
as parliamentary time allows thereafter.
Knife crime causes misery and fear in our communities, which is
why this Government has taken concerted action to tackle it.
We are pursuing a twin-track approach combining tough enforcement
with prevention and intervention as we relentlessly bear down on
violent crime.
The results are clear to see. Since 2010 violent crime has
reduced by 38%, according to the crime survey of England &
Wales.
Consultation on new knife
legislation proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other
bladed articles in crime
