New laws are being introduced to help prevent young people from accessing dangerous knives online.
Stricter rules for online retailers selling knives will be introduced by the government, along with tougher penalties for those failing to enforce them.
Retailers will soon be required to report any bulk or suspicious-looking purchases of knives on their platforms to police to prevent illegal resales happening across social media accounts.
The sentence for selling weapons to under 18s will also be increased. It will rise from six months to up to two years prison time. This could apply to an individual who has processed the sale or even a CEO of the company.
This increased penalty will also apply to the sale or supply of prohibited offensive weapons such as recently banned zombie-style knives, following police evidence that identified a discrepancy in current legislation means there is more leniency for illegally selling weapons than possessing one.
A new offence of possessing an offensive weapon with intent for violence will be introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill which will carry a sentence of up to four years in prison. This means that no matter if the weapon in possession is legal or not, if there is intent to cause violence, it will be viewed as a crime.
The new measures will collectively be known as ‘Ronan’s Law’ in honour of Ronan Kanda who was tragically killed in 2022 in a case of mistaken identity near his home in Wolverhampton aged 16.
Ronan’s killers, who were also teenagers, illegally bought lethal weapons online and collected them from the Post Office on the day of the attack, with no age or identity verification taking place. It was later revealed that one of Ronan’s teenage killers had bought more than 20 knives online, including by using his mother’s ID.
Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said: “It is horrifying how easy it is for young people to get hold of knives online even though children’s lives are being lost, and families and communities are left devastated as a result.
“Not enough has been done to tackle the online market over recent years which is why we made it an urgent priority in our manifesto and the measures today will be underpinned by investment for a new dedicated police unit to go after those who are breaking the law and putting children and teenagers lives at risk.
“We are honouring our commitment to introduce Ronan’s Law in memory of Ronan Kanda who was tragically killed in 2022. I am so grateful to the Kanda family for their endless perseverance in ensuring governments take the right actions to protect young people from further tragedy.”
Last Autumn, the Home Secretary commissioned National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for Knife Crime, Commander Stephen Clayman to conduct an end-to-end review into the sale of knives online. The review exposed lethal loopholes in the sale of knives online which are allowing dangerous weapons to end up in the wrong hands.
The review highlighted the lack of minimum standards for age verification and delivery checks.
Commander Stephen Clayman said: “The evidence in the end-to-end review clearly demonstrates just how easy it is for anyone to purchase a knife online, often avoiding any age verification at all, or where it is in place, exploiting vulnerabilities, especially with delivery.”
