What are we going to do? 

We are going to ensure that the police and the courts have the necessary powers to get offensive weapons off the streets and help tackle knife crime. Measures in the Crime and Policing Bill will: 

(a) Enable the police to seize, retain and destroy knives held in private when they are lawfully on private property and have reasonable grounds to suspect the item(s) will likely be used in connection with unlawful violence. 

(b) Increase the maximum penalty, from six months’ imprisonment to two years’ imprisonment, for the offences of private possession, importation, manufacture, sale or supply of prohibited offensive weapons and knives and of selling knives to those under 18. 

(c) Introduce a new offence of possession of a knife or offensive weapon in public or private with intent to use unlawful violence. The offence will carry a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment. 

How are we going to do it? 

Powers to seize knives  

The bill introduces a new power for police to seize, retain and destroy legally held bladed articles held in private when the police are lawfully on private property and have reasonable grounds to suspect the item is likely to be used in connection with unlawful violence, including damage to property and the threat of violence. The power will be exercisable by any police officer, regardless of rank, when carrying out their policing duties. 

The power will be exercisable where the police are lawfully on private property, for example while executing a search warrant or having been invited onto the property by the owner or occupant. 

The police must leave a written record of the seizure, including a description of the item and the reason for forfeiture. The owner of a seized item will be able to seek an order from a magistrates’ court where the court is satisfied that it would be just to make such an order (for example, if the court concludes that the item had been inappropriately seized). 

Increase in maximum penalties  

This bill amends sections 141 and 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and section 1 of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 to increase the maximum penalties for the offences provided for in each of those sections. Under section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is an offence to manufacture, sell or otherwise supply prohibited offensive weapons or to possess such weapons for the purposes of supplying them. Under section 141(1A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is an offence to possess a prohibited weapon in private. Under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is an offence to sell knives or other bladed articles to those under 18. Under section 1 of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 it is an offence to manufacture, sell or otherwise supply a flick knife or gravity knife or to possess such knives for the purposes of supplying them. Under section 1(1A) of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 it is an offence to possess such a knife, the current maximum penalty for each of these offences is six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. In each case, the bill increases the maximum penalty to two years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. As a result, these offences will change from a ‘summary only’ offence to an ‘either way’ offence, meaning that more serious cases can be tried in the Crown Court. 

This will bring the maximum penalty of these offences into line with the existing offence of unlawful marketing of knives in section 1 of the Knives Act 1997. 

Increasing the maximum penalty will not only reflect the severity of the crime, but it will also be of operational benefit to the police, allowing them more time to investigate cases without the constraint of the six-month time limit on the prosecution of summary-only offences. 

New possession offence  

The bill introduces a new offence for possession of a knife or offensive weapon in public or private with the intention to use in unlawful violence against another person, or cause them to fear such violence, or to cause serious unlawful damage to property.  

The maximum penalty for the offence will be four years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. 

Background 

Tackling knife crime is a priority and the government is determined to halve knife crime in a decade as part of its Safer Streets Mission.  

These new measures are intended to help the police take action and tackle knife crime by disrupting those who own knives and other weapons, whether prohibited or not, for the purpose of using them in violent crime. These measures were developed in partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in response to concerns raised about increasing prevalence of machetes and large knives in crime.  

The Home Office ran a public consultation on the seizure powers, increasing maximum penalties and the new possession offence from 18 April to 6 June 2023 and received 2,544 responses. ^{[footnote 1]}  

Most responses were supportive of the measures overall. However, a number of respondents raised concerns in relation to the new police power to seize knives held in private, and how the power would be exercised. The Home Office will work with the NPCC to develop guidance to police forces to ensure that these powers are exercised appropriately.  

Key statistics 

Police recorded crime data for year ending September 2024 showed that offences involving knives or sharp instruments (excluding Greater Manchester Police) increased by 4% (to 55,008 offences) compared with year ending September 2023 (52,969 offences). This was similar to year ending March 2020, before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (55,170 offences) ^{[footnote 2]}. 

Knife-enabled crimes continue to be concentrated in metropolitan areas across England and Wales, with 30% of all offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police Service and 9% by the West Midlands Police 

Police recorded “possession of article with a blade or point” offences decreased by 1% in the year to September 2024 (27,945 offences) compared with year ending June 2023 (28,181 offences). This follows substantial increases in recent years, which may have been influenced by targeted police action to tackle knife crime. 

The police recorded 550 homicide offences in year ending September 2024, a 4% decrease from 572 offences in the previous year. 

Of all recorded homicides in year ending June 2024, the proportion of homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was the method of killing was 44%. This was a slight increase compared with 42% in the previous year. Proportions for homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was the method of killing exclude data from Greater Manchester Police. 

The latest provisional admissions data for NHS hospitals in England and Wales showed a 3% decrease in the number of admissions for assault by a sharp object in year ending September 2024 (to 3,735 admissions). This was 22% below the pre-coronavirus year ending March 2020 (4,769 admissions). 

Frequently asked questions 

Will the police be able to seize kitchen knives and other household objects? 

The new powers will apply to any knife. 

The police will have the power to seize, retain and destroy legally held bladed articles from private property when the police are lawfully on private property and have reasonable grounds to suspect the bladed article will be used for serious violence or other crime. 

This power can only be exercised by an officer as part of their duties when they are on private property lawfully, for example, under “PACE” powers, and they have reason to suspect a knife will be used for serious violence or serious crime. 

The bill includes provision for the owner of any seized knives to secure their return by applying for an order from a magistrates’ court. In deciding whether to grant such an order, the court will consider whether the knife had been appropriately seized. 

Are there protections in place for sellers who carried out necessary checks and had no reason to suspect believe the buyer was under 18? 

This measure is not intended to be used to charge sellers who have carried out all the reasonable steps to verify age. 

There is currently a ‘due diligence’ defence under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 if the seller shows that they took all reasonable steps to verify age. This will continue to apply. 

What makes this new offence of possession with intent different to the existing offences for possession of banned knives? Why is this needed? 

It is already an offence to carry a bladed article in public without good reason. It is also an offence to then go on and threaten a person with the bladed article or weapon. 

Under section 52 of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, it is an offence to intentionally threaten someone with an offensive weapon in public or private. 

The introduction of this new offence bridges the gap between being in possession of a knife (or offensive weapon) in public or on school or further education premises and it being used to threaten or harm anyone. This offence will target those who equip themselves with bladed articles (or offensive weapon) with the intention to use unlawful violence, cause a person to believe unlawful violence will be used against them or another or cause serious unlawful damage but are intercepted by the police before they have had the chance to carry out any attack on the intended victim or property. It will empower the police to bring charges against those individuals.

Footnotes