A law banning ninja swords is set to come into force by summer after a “relentless” campaign by the family of a murdered teenager.
Ronan Kanda, 16, was stabbed to death with a ninja sword yards away from his home in Wolverhampton in 2022 in a case of mistaken identity.
Now, the final part of Ronan’s Law, a series of anti-knife crime measures, will make it illegal to possess, sell, make, or import ninja swords from 1 August.
The ban will be presented before parliament on Thursday and will come into force in the summer once it has gained approval.
Ronan’s mother, Pooja Kanda, has said: “Today marks a very important day for us as a family and our campaign.
“Since losing our beautiful boy Ronan, we have relentlessly campaigned for a ban on ninja swords – the lethal weapon which took his life.
“We believe ninja swords have no place in our society other than to seriously harm and kill.”
Ms Kanda added: “Each step towards tackling knife crime is a step towards getting justice for our boy Ronan.”
Anyone caught with a ninja sword in private could face six months in prison, set to increase to two years under plans in the Crime and Policing Bill.
The weapons can be handed over in knife surrender bins or local police stations under a surrender scheme running in July.
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Under Ronan’s Law, the Home Office has also announced a raft of measures including making retailers report bulk or suspicious sales to police, and increasing the jail sentence for selling weapons to children, or illegal blades such as zombie knives, to two years.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We are acting with urgency to bring forward measures to prevent deadly weapons from getting into the wrong hands and will continue to do whatever is needed to prevent young people being killed on our streets as part of our mission to halve knife crime over the next decade.”
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Patrick Green, chief executive of Ben Kinsella Trust, also backed the ban, adding: “These weapons, with no practical purpose beyond violence, are simply instruments of war and have absolutely no place in our society or on our streets.”
Two teenagers – Prabjeet Veadhasa and Sukhman Shergill – were sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison for Ronan’s murder.
