New zombie knife ban begins in Suffolk days after stabbing

The crackdown on specific types of knives, such as zombie knives or machetes, has been widely praised around Ipswich and Suffolk during the month long amnesty ahead of the ban.

The possession of a banned weapon carries a sentence of four years in prison.

Zombie knives are banned under the new legislation (Image: Joe Giddens/PA)But the law comes in only days after a teenager was stabbed in St Stephen's Lane on Saturday night following an altercation, as well as wide spread debate over Ipswich's need for it's own knife strategy.

Jamie Hart, co-founder of Lucky 13 Tattoo Studio in Ipswich, campaigns against knife crime as part of the Be Lucky Anti-Crime Foundation, says as well as the ban there needs to be tough penalties for those that continue to carry knives.

Paul Stansby (left) and Jamie Hart (right) are founders of the Be Lucky Anti Crime Foundation (Image: Archant)

He said: “It’s a brilliant move because any knife coming off the streets is good. The only issue I can see is there will be some other style of knife that becomes popular.

“These are massive knives. They’re absolutely disgusting. But are these people just going to change to a different knife and say, ‘well it’s not a zombie knife’?

“You can still purchase antique samurai swords and blunt samurai swords, but these can be sharpened up. People might just get their knives off the black market.

“It’s a brilliant because the government are actually looking into it so they’re seeing that there is a problem, and we want people to be aware there is an issue.

“But there really needs to be bigger sentences to make sure people stop carrying knives."

The number of crimes involving machetes, swords or zombie knives has nearly doubled in five years, police figures have suggested.

Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in 2023 the three types of weapons were mentioned in more than 14,000 crimes recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales.

Nearly 10,000 of the offences recorded in 2023 involved machetes, double the number from five years before, the broadcaster reported.

Mr Hart added: "The penalty needs to be big enough to scare them. It’s a move in the right direction but more needs to be done.”

In 2019, there were 7,159 offences recorded as involving the large blades, which rose to 14,195 in 2023.

MP for West Suffolk Nick Timothy recently visited the Knife Angel statue in Haverhill’s Market Square.

Nick Timothy (left) and local councillor Joe Mason with the Knife Angel statue (Image: Archant)The Knife Angel was constructed using over 100,000 seized blades to underline the devastating impact that violent crime can have.

The statue was placed in the town following the fatal stabbing of the teenager Harley Barfield.

Harley Barfield with his mother Bernice (Image: Suffolk Police) Mr Timothy said: “In a civilised society violence is never acceptable, and carrying a knife is never okay. In Haverhill we all know the terrible consequences of knife crime, and it’s vital that young people know never even to consider it.”

There has been much debate over what policies should be adopted to tackle knife crime in Ipswich and Suffolk.

During a recent Ipswich Borough Council meeting, Cllr Sam Murray questioned the portfolio holder for communities and sports Cllr John Cook about introducing a knife crime strategy specific to the town. 

Cllr Sam Murray has called for new ways to address knife crime (Image: Archant)

Cllr Murray believes that there should be a strategy that looks into the problems in Ipswich and addresses them in multiple ways other than looking at it from the countywide position. 

Following the weekend's incident, she said: "As a community leader who has been lobbying for a knife crime strategy for Ipswich for two years now, I have gone from feeling dismayed to feeling angry.

"How many knife related incidents does it take before decision makers accept we need a properly thought out and comprehensive knife crime specific strategy for Ipswich?

"This cannot just be our way of life now. I refuse to accept that." 

However, Cllr Cook believes the existing framework that sees a Suffolk-wide helps bring all the districts in the county together as "crime doesn't represent district boundaries". 

Councillor John Cook (Image: Newsquest)Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore has been involved in creating the current strategy and said that there are a lot of factors that they look into.

Tim Passmore, Suffolk's police and crime commissioner (Image: Newsquest)However, he added that he is open to looking at new ideas and suggestions on how to tackle this crime. 

He said: "We do a lot to support young people with a huge range of activities on dealing with county lines but also preventing people getting into difficulties of trouble in the first place."