Deadly 'zombie knives' face ban - Government and police bosses to act after Express & Star investigation

So-called 'zombie killer' knives, that are inspired by horror films and marketed as 'collectible items', can be ordered online for as little as £8 and shipped to homes.

The loophole was revealed by an Express & Star investigation last year. It prompted police concerns that potentially deadly weapons could be ordered with such ease - a state of affairs described as 'utterly bonkers' by an MP.

But the knives could soon be banned from sale in the UK after police chiefs and Government officials expressed fears that gang members are acquiring them as status symbols.

Alf Hitchcock, chief constable of the Ministry of Defence Police and lead on knife crime for the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: "These are absolutely horrific weapons for which there can be no legitimate use.

"You only have to look at the combination of the pointed and serrated edges to see that any injury would be fatal. The serrations would cause such serious internal damage to anyone that it would be fatal.

"Whilst we haven't got significant evidence of a huge increase in sales, there is enough evidence for it to be worrying and we are looking to work on a form of words that bans these weapons."

The move has been welcomed by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, who has urged the Government to bring in the new legislation 'as soon as possible'.

He said the Home Office should prioritise a nationwide ban 'to rid the streets of these vile objects'.

Mr Jamieson said: "I would like to see a nationwide ban on these weapons – which have no practical usage whatsoever - brought in as soon as possible and I am calling on the Home Office to make it a priority.

"These brutal weapons have no place in civilised society: their only aim is to intimidate and cause harm.

"I find it particularly unsettling that, due to their bold colours and links to films and TV shows, they appear to be aimed at the younger generation and in some way glamourise knife crime.

"The fact that they can be bought online for as little as £8 is also distressing and the government needs to do all it can to rid our streets of these vile objects."

The thought of running into someone brandishing one of these weapons, some boasting blades as long as two feet, certainly quickened my pace when I walked home that night.

There's something particularly unnerving about the childish, infantile branding of the weapons as 'zombie killers' – zombies are the stuff of fantasy films and TV shows.

The real-world damage that these things can do is far from fantastic.

There's an instant, convenient disconnection when you call something a zombie knife, when it's not zombies that they will be used on.

I feel the same way about the term as I do 'legal highs' when they are anything but legal. They both need their respective terms rethought. The irresponsibility and arrogance of people who sell these knives is staggering. This is taken from the website of one company who will remain nameless in Manchester – "Imagine waking up to the news that the zombie virus is spreading through Asia and heading fast towards the UK. Fear The walking Dead! Nah it's time to get tooled up for some real ZOMBIE KICK *SS! Thankfully here you'll find everything you need to survive and thrive in the zombie apocalypse."

I mean, really?

They can dress it up as victimless fun all they like, but they know as well as we do that when people buy their products, it's not because they are readying themselves for the Dawn of the Dead.

This firm's stock-in-trade is horrific serrated blades designed to damage flesh; grotesque hand axes with which to hack and carve; knives with names like 'Bone Crusher', 'Slasher' and the 'Pestilence Chopper'.

They even have an 'anti-zombie' (and boy, after spending just 10 minutes looking at their website, how weary I am already of that phrase) ninja sword, with a 27-inch blade.

I don't know about you, but anyone who wants to own a weapon like that, is precisely the person you DON'T want owning one.

What's galling about these sales tactics is that they are clearly targeting young, impressionable people with a tenuous grasp on reality.

Ownership

Again, if you think it's okay to desire, and even carry around, something called the Camillus Carnivore Maxx machete, then that should immediately disqualify you from ownership.

So here's an idea. Since the availability of zombie knives is predicated on the living dead rising from the graves – how about the powers-that-be make their sale illegal, until that happens?

The knives first grew popular in America, where they are carried by so-called 'preppers' during Hollywood-inspired fantasy role-playing games.

Currently anyone caught carrying a 'zombie' branded serrated machete, throwing knives or swords faces prison – but there is nothing to stop them being bought online and delivered to someone's front door.

Under current legislation it is legal to keep them in a private residence.

And thousands of them have been bought. Around half a dozen UK based websites offer them for sale, with many retailers linking the knives to popular culture via references to television shows and films.

One site - that the Express & Star is refusing to name so as not to give it publicity - claims to specialise in 'Zombie hunting weaponry and accessories'.

The site features The Mad Zombie Machete 2, a 46cm blade that it describes as 'another close up way of exterminating the walking dead'.

The description adds: "....but from time to time they might just get up and walk again. Get all the tools you need to defend yourselves from the oncoming Zombie war."

It is available for £29.99.

The site also offers a KA-Bar Zombie 'Zomstro' Chopper at a special price of £81.99. The 25cm thickened steel blade is advertised as designed to perform 'under the most rigorous, unexpected and apocalyptic situations'.

Another UK site offers a Zombie Apocalypse Survival kit, which contains an Armex Jaguar 175lb crossbow (touted as the UK's best selling rifle crossbow), bolts fitted with broadhead arrow tips, a Gerber machete and a lock knife.

"The second half Season 3 The Walking Dead is back on the TV so we are bringing back the Apocalypse kit," the website says.

"All kits will also now include a free packable target bag so you get even more for your money!!!"

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson said it was 'utterly ridiculous' that such knives are allowed to be sold.

"The idea that people can buy such dangerously offensive and aggressive weapons is utterly bonkers," he said.

"Anyone buying these knives is a potential threat to public safety. I can only welcome any ban and hope it is brought in as soon as possible."

The weapons have been partly blamed by police for a rise in knife related deaths in recent years.

In 2015 there were 15 knife related killings - the highest since 2008, when there were 23 deaths.

Despite the fears knife crime has dropped significantly over the last decade across the West Midlands. Last year saw 1,555 offences, compared to 3,942 in 2005.

But in 2015 knife crime rose across the UK for the first time in four years, with 26,370 offences.

In December a 15-year-old teenager was stabbed outside a south London primary school with a weapon police said was so long that it had entered the victim from the front and exited at the rear.

And in the same month a 24-inch curved and serrated machete - advertised as an 'apocalypse head decapitator' - was recovered from an east London alleyway.

It came as the number of teenagers murdered with knives in the capital reached a seven-year high in 2015.

Mr Jamieson also reiterated his call for anyone in possession of such a knife to dispose of it in an appropriate manner.

"I would again plead with anyone who has such a weapon to do the right thing and use one of our knife surrender bins," he said.