Nearly 300 weapons seized in police crackdown

South Yorkshire Police said its officers had seized nearly 300 bladed weapons

South Yorkshire Police (SYP) seized nearly 300 weapons during a month-long crackdown on knife crime.

Officers recovered 233 knives during an operation aimed at taking bladed weapons off the streets, the force said.

Dozens of machetes, swords and axes were also uncovered in targeted searches, patrols and land sweeps.

Supt David Cowley, the force's lead on knife crime, said: "Our officers continue to show our dedication in taking these outright appalling weapons off our streets."

SYP said it had recovered a total of 292 weapons - including 15 machetes, 26 axes and 18 swords - during the operation.

Some of the weapons were handed in at knife surrender bins.

Officers also conducted patrols of "hotspot areas" and delivered warning letters to the recipients of knives intercepted by UK Border Force, police said.

In May, SYP said it had confiscated more than 500 weapons during Operation Sceptre, a nationwide crackdown on knife crime.

'Not acceptable'

Supt Cowley said: "Unfortunately, we have seen some recent incidents where people have sadly died or were seriously injured as a result of knife crime.

"This is not acceptable. These incidents have left families grieving and communities rightly shaken-up."

There were 1,532 knife crime incidents in South Yorkshire last year, according to police data.

Last week the mother of a man who was stabbed to death in Doncaster called for more action to tackle knife crime.

“It’s got out of hand. I just want it to stop. Somebody has got to do something now,” said Lisa Theobald, whose son Ryan and a teenage friend were killed outside a bar in 2022 following an altercation with a group of men.

Amrit Jhagra, 19, was later convicted of murdering Ryan, 20 and Janis Kozlovskis, 17.

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