A ban on ninja swords introduced as part of legislation named after a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death with the weapon has come into effect.
The ban in England and Wales makes it illegal to possess, make, import or sell ninja swords and it comes as part of Ronan’s law, named after Ronan Kanda, who was stabbed to death close to his family home in Wolverhampton in 2022 in a case of mistaken identity.
Ronan was murdered with a ninja sword bought online.
His mother, Pooja Kanda, who has been campaigning for the law to take effect, told Sky News it is “one very, very big change we needed”.
She said: “I firmly believe if it was in place years ago, my son would’ve been here today”.
Overall, knife crime in England and Wales has risen 87% in the past decade, with 54,587 offences recorded last year alone, a 2% rise from 2023 and among the highest rates in Europe.
The ban on ninja swords comes into force as part of the government’s commitment to halve knife crime in the next decade.
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At least 1,000 of the weapons have been handed in as part of a surrender scheme.
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The government has also pledged to tackle the sale of weapons online as part of Ronan’s Law.
This would require retailers to report bulk or suspicious knife orders to the police, put in place more stringent age-verification checks and impose significant fines on tech executives whose platforms fail to prevent illegal sales.
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Ms Kanda said about her son: “He is larger than life… he is everything a mother would want, a mother’s dream son who never shied away from helping his mother, caring for his mum, loving his sister and loving everyone around him.
“He did not shy away from helping people, he deserved life, he truly deserved life and he would’ve become something big. He is big today but honestly we need more children like Ronan.”
