The mother of a teenage boy who was stabbed to death as he walked home from school three years ago says she feels “disrespected” by authorities.
Tamim Habimana died from a single stab wound after he was attacked in Woolwich, southeast London, in July 2021.
The blade that killed the schoolboy was not a zombie knife – the name given to ornate-bladed weapons inspired by zombie films and TV shows.
Now, three years after his death, his mother, Hawa Haragazika, told Sky News: “I’m never going to be OK. I’m trying to live daily. But I just think they should stop disrespecting us.
“It shouldn’t be only zombie knives, first of all. Any weapon can kill someone.
“I’m really, really struggling to keep my cool because I feel angry when I only hear about zombie knives. It should be any weapon.”
Her comments come ahead of the ban on zombie knives in England and Wales from Tuesday 24 September.
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It’s not the government’s first attempt to clear the streets of such weapons.
In 2016, then Home Secretary Theresa May first announced the vicious-looking knives were to be outlawed.
But the law was drafted so narrowly that it created a number of deadly loopholes that allowed dangerous knives to remain on the streets.
The government vowed to revisit the legislation and has now amended it, so from next week it will be illegal to own a knife with a sharpened blade longer than eight inches if it also has other features including:
A surrender scheme was launched in August allowing people to hand the weapons in legally at their local police station.
Speaking at a visit to an amnesty bin in the West Midlands, where dozens of blades have been handed in, local police and crime commissioner Simon Foster told Sky News: “It’s far better that they’re in those bins than on the street. It’s a welcome initiative.
“Is it going to solve knife crime in itself? No, of course it isn’t. But it’s important the government takes all opportunities to reduce the availability of these knives.”
Could ninja swords become the next battleground?
However, campaigners are concerned the ban on zombie knives will have a limited effect, as other equally dangerous weapons remain on the streets.
Patrick Green, CEO of knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust told Sky News: “What we’re fearful of is having finally banned zombie knives on the third attempt, that it will just displace the problem, and those who are intent on getting these knives will simply look for the next gruesome knife to buy.
“We know that ninja swords are still available, so we fear that the problem will just move up the step rather than be solved.”
The new government is at least alive to these issues. In the most recent King’s Speech, plans were announced to ban ninja swords, and to crack down harder on the sale of knives online.
Knife crime is a complex problem. Banning weapons is only a small part of the solution. But even on that narrow front, there is more work to be done.
