NHS calls for crackdown on knife sales

Speaking at the NHS Expo 2019 conference, Martin Griffiths has led the call for more to be done to restrict the sale of harmful ‘zombie knives’ to help prevent violent crime.

Griffiths, a surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust, said that the drivers of violent crime are complex and deep-rooted, but that sales of knives created, designed and sold purely to glamourise and cause harm must be further tackled.

Such knives are known as ‘zombie knives’, often having cutting blades of up to 25 inches, a serrated edge and are brightly coloured, often decorated with images of violence.

Although a law was passed in 2016 that prohibited the sale, import and manufacture of zombie knives across England and Wales, reports of the weapons being available and used in crimes have persisted. As a result, Griffiths was appointed as violence reduction director for NHS England in London earlier this year.

Griffiths said: “Zombie knives have no use other than to cause serious harm. These deadly weapons have no place in London, no place in society, and should not be on sale either online or on our high streets. Anyone selling deadly zombie knives is complicit in the serious injury and death that can result.

“The causes of violent crime are complex and tied up in issues like employment, income and background. The solution isn’t quick, but violence is preventable, which is why as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to improve the country’s health, doctors and other NHS staff are joining communities across the capital from business to schools, families and the criminal justice system to encourage everyone in London to get involved in reducing violent crime.”