PCC welcomes new knife crime proposals

Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, has welcomed plans to tighten laws around the sale and possession of machetes and zombie-style knives.

Proposals set out by the government would look to ban knives which are "designed to look menacing" as well as increasing the maximum penalties for their possession and sale.

PCC Wilkinson said:

“Since the start of the year, there have been incidents involving knives across Wiltshire but notably in Swindon, Trowbridge and Chippenham. Since the start of my tenure as Police and Crime Commissioner, two teenagers have sadly lost their lives after being fatally wounded by bladed weapons.

“If we look at the figures, the last set of ONS crime statistics showed that although the number of crimes where a knife was used had seen a small decrease, the number of people arrested for carrying a knife had seen a year on year increase of 48%.

“We need to take control of this situation through continuing to support the good work of our early intervention teams and by making sure the laws allow our officers and the courts to effectively deal with anyone who uses a knife to intimidate or cause harm.

“My office is working with the force and our partners to tackle this issue head-on so we can avoid any more needless and senseless deaths in Wiltshire”

Work has been ongoing to tackle violent crime in Wiltshire with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) supporting successful bids by Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire Council to secure Safer Streets funding from the government.

In Swindon, the OPCC has worked with Swindon Borough Council, Children’s Health and the Youth Justice Service to create a Youth Safety Strategy to put in place the long-term solutions to reducing serious youth violence by engaging with young people and their families who are at the greatest risk. 

A Serious Violence Duty Coordinator has also been recruited to work with councils in Wiltshire and Swindon along with a number of justice and health agencies and as part of her priorities for Wiltshire Police, Chief Constable Catherine Roper earmarked reducing violent crime and creating safer public spaces as key focuses.

Under the current laws, it’s illegal to sell, manufacture, hire, loan or gift zombie knives but under the new proposals, this would be extended to zombie-style knives which are similar to prohibited zombie knives, but don’t contain images in the handle or blade that could incite to violence.

As part of a public consultation, the government is also asking if items like machetes and other large, bladed tools such as scythes, billhooks and large outdoor knives still have a practical use in modern agriculture in the UK as well as for other legitimate purposes such as camping and bushcraft.

The proposals would also look to increase the maximum sentence of importing, manufacturing or selling banned weapons from six months imprisonment to two years.

Supt Phil Staynings said:

“There is no place in society for many of these types of knives – they serve no practical purpose and are only used to inflict harm or to intimidate.

“Tackling knife crime in Swindon and Wiltshire remains a Force priority and I welcome any legislation which will help our officers in this aim.”

The consultation runs until June 6 2023 and can be found here: Consultation on new knife legislation proposals to tackle the use of machetes and other bladed articles in crime (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Published Wednesday May 24 2023