'We've had 11 knife deaths since last summer'

New legislation has closed a legal loophole and made it an imprisonable offence to own, make, transport or sell so-called “statement” knives

An anti-knife crime campaigner has called for more to be done to educate and support young people.

Leanne Reynolds has welcomed a new law, which means it is now an imprisonable offence to own, make, transport or sell “zombie-style” knives and machetes in England and Wales.

However Ms Reynolds, who has been working to get emergency bleed kits rolled out, has called for more funding and education for young people.

She said: "There's a lot that's going on in our society, where we've not tackled it."

Police figures show there have been 11 knife-related homicides in Bristol between July 2023 and September 2024. Three of these do not relate to street crime.

"Most of these young people don't just wake up and go and buy a knife, there's a reason why they are doing it," she added.

Leanne Reynolds has been working to get emergency bleed kits installed across Bristol and Somerset

"There is exploitation - the county lines is absolutely ridiculous where children are basically being shipped around the UK, and they’re so scared.

"School exclusion is a major problem. Once you exclude that child, and they’re not going anywhere, that pushes them out on the street.

“People are preying on the young," she added.

Ms Reynolds founded the Bristol Bleed Campaign after knowing two young men who were killed while she was working in education.

“That is what got me. From seeing a young man going into education, four days a week and his name on a register and now he’s no longer with us - it was really hard to comprehend."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Tackling knife crime is a moral mission upon all in society.

"These dangerous weapons have no purpose but to harm and intimidate and it is vital we do everything we can to get them off our streets and save lives.

“It is now illegal to own zombie-style knives and machetes.

"This will help deliver on our mission to halve knife crime and serious violence in a decade, but we know more needs to be done and we remain fully committed to tackling knife crime.”

Surrendered knives

Zombie-style knives and machetes are defined as weapons with blades more than eight inches (20cm) in length, normally with a serrated cutting edge.

Earlier this month, Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said the new zombie knife ban, which was introduced on Tuesday, was the first step in the government's plan to halve knife crime in a decade.

Avon and Somerset Police said more than 1,000 zombie-style knives and machetes were surrendered up until the ban.

The force added the weapons were handed into 15 surrender sites across its region, which includes Bristol, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath.

The Home Office is currently planning to ban ninja swords, and the government has also commissioned a review of how knives are sold online, which will be carried out before the end of the year.

'Kids need support'

The government’s “homicide index“ started recording the type of blade involved in murders and other killings in April 2022. It has published only one year’s worth of data so far.

It reveals 244 deaths in England and Wales involved sharp instruments in the year ending March 2023.

Of these, 14 involved machetes, seven involved zombie knives and three involved swords. Kitchen knives were the most common type of sharp instrument used to kill. They were used in 101 homicides.

Ms Reynolds told BBC Radio Somerset the ban should have "happened a long time ago".

"We need to tackle the matter from education," she said.

"It's alright taking weapons off young boys and girls, but why have they initially got that weapon? What has changed to make it hand over the weapon, what kind of support are we giving them?"

She added that more youth clubs, policing and support around trauma was needed.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said there had been 23 knife related deaths, rather than a 11.