Once the amnesty period has finished police forces across the country insist they will robustly

Once the amnesty period has finished, police forces across the country insist they will “robustly” defend the law. Anyone found carrying an offensive weapon in a public place could be imprisoned for up to six months and receive a £5,000 fine. More than 1,600 knives and bladed weapons have already been handed in as part of the initiative. West Midlands Police, which began its knives amnesty in March, said the campaign had successfully raised awareness about knife crime, especially among young people. “They should come, as judges are the ones who hand out sentences.” Amnesties have a history of producing results. During a similar amnesty in 1995, 40,000 potentially lethal weapons were handed in. Records over the 12 months following a four-week knife amnesty in Scotland in 1993 found murders fell by 26%, attempted murder by 19% and offensive weapons possession by 23%.

“Judges are never represented at these kind of conferences,” she said. Ms Edwards said such events had proved useful in the past, but she called on criminal court judges to attend in the future. Discussions will centre on how to get rid of knives and guns on the streets of Britain. Dee Edwards, of the campaign group Mother’s Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA), said workshops at the Kassam Stadium would focus on how to change the UK’s knife and gun culture. Forces around the country will roll out the specialised red “wheelie-bins” for the weapons and set up a high-profile poster campaign. Kent Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Dave Ainsworth said: “We obviously want to reduce the number of knives and lethal weapons on our streets that are designed to kill or maim, such as combat knives, flick knives and swords.” Referring to the murder of 18-year-old Christopher Alaneme, he said: “As we have witnessed recently with the tragic incident in Sheerness where a young man lost his life, knives can damage and destroy lives, leaving families and communities devastated.” In Oxford, anti-violence groups and police are attending a private conference today, backed by the Home Office.

In conjunction with the amnesty, the police are running a campaign educating people about the dangers of carrying offensive weapons. Other proposals include raising the age at which people can legally purchase knives from 16 to 18 and giving teachers power to search pupils for knives at school. Evidence suggests that the most likely group to carry knives are males youths aged between 15 and 16. The spokesman said the amnesty was part of a wide range of actions being taken to tackle knife crime, including toughening the law on carrying blades.

He said tackling knife culture, especially among young people, was paramount to community safety. Today’s amnesty involves all legal knives – such a kitchen knives – and offensive weapons, such as flick knives, butterfly knives and swords. The police ask that all offending blades are wrapped in card or paper, partly to prove they are part of the amnesty and partly to prevent injury at the site of delivery. Scotland Yard said only those weapons believed to be significant to police inquiries would be forensically examined.

The scheme was announced in February by then Home Secretary Charles Clarke, who said: “The message of this campaign is simple – carrying knives on the streets will not be tolerated.” A Home Office spokesman said the emphasis of the campaign was to try and stop people carrying knives because of the risk that the weapon could be used against the carrier. Families of victims killed in knife attacks questioned the effectiveness of the amnesty and called instead for tougher sentencing. Individual police forces may also decide to leave bins in churches, supermarkets, schools and youth clubs to encourage the handover. Secure bins will be placed in the public reception areas of most police stations to encourage people to hand in their weapons. For the next five weeks – until June 30 – people will be able to hand in all bladed instruments without fear of reprisal.
The initiative is being backed by police forces throughout England, Northern Ireland and Wales Scotland is running its own amnesty concurrently. A nationwide knife amnesty begins across the country today – the first of its kind for 10 years.