Will zombie knife ban halt the scourge of violent crime in the West Midlands?
"Too many people have access to weapons that can lead to devastating, life-changing consequences," says policing minister Diana Johnson.
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"There is no legitimate need for a weapon of this kind to be in our homes or on our streets."
From today (Tuesday, September 23), anybody found in possession of a machete or zombie-style knife faces the prospect of prison, as the Government seeks to get to grips with the knife-crime epidemic which has laid waste to hundreds of young lives.
But for Pooja Kanda, whose 16-year-old son Ronan was brutally murdered by two teenagers near his home in Wolverhampton, the new laws do not go far enough. The Criminal Justice Act, introduced by the previous Conservative government, does not ban the online sale of so-called 'Ninja' swords of the kind used to kill Ronan, who was attacked in a case of mistaken identity.
Mrs Kanda says she wants the online sale of all big knives banned.
"It was a sword that went through my child’s heart," she says.
"I am shocked they were available when this happened. And I'm more shocked that they are still continuing to be available after what happened to Ronan."
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to address this loophole during the next parliament, after meeting with Mrs Kanda and her daughter Nikita. Hollywood star Idris Elba has also pledged his backing for tougher laws on large blades.
The Express & Star has highlighted the shocking number of lives cut short by knife crime in the region, including Jetmir Pemaj, 33, stabbed in Wolverhampton on July 27 last year, Akeem Francis-Kerr, 29, knifed to death in a Walsall nightclub, Bailey Atkinson, 20, who was stabbed to death in Walsall town centre, Jack Lowe, 18, stabbed in Darlaston town centre, and Cody Fisher, 20, who was stabbed in a nightclub.
