Luton-based knife wholesaler surrenders 35,000 ‘zombie’ blades

[Pelican Press 0]

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Luton-based ****** wholesaler surrenders 35,000 ‘zombie’ blades

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Taking knives similar to this one out of circulation would “absolutely save lives”, according to a senior police officer

A ****** wholesaler whose weapons have been used in several killings has surrendered more than 35,000 “zombie” blades.

Police said the knives and machetes were designed to “***** and maim”.

Under a government surrender scheme Luton-based Sporting Wholesale will receive £10 compensation for each ******.

The company said it would not comment.

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Sporting Wholesale’s knives were delivered on 36 pallets carrying hundreds of boxes

Supt Alex House, who leads on ****** ****** for Bedfordshire Police, said the knives and machetes had “no other use” than as weapons.

“There’s no other practical use for them,” he told the BBC. “If you look at the design… the purpose is to ***** and maim.”

Zombie knives were first banned in 2016 but a new,

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designed to outlaw more blades will take effect in England and Wales on 24 September.

From then it will be ******** to own a ****** with a sharpened blade longer than 8in (20cm), if it also has other features, including:

A serrated cutting edgeMore than one ***** in the bladeSpikesMore than two sharp points in the bladedata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Ben Schofield/BBC

The different models of knives were checked to make sure they met the new “zombie” ****** criteria

The weapons will be shredded and their metal recycled by a specialist company.

Mr House added that it was a “horrific amount of knives”.

“The fact that we have now got them all here and they are going to be destroyed will absolutely save lives.”

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Under the Home Office surrender and compensation scheme Sporting Wholesale could receive more than £350,000 for its knives

Sporting Wholesale imported knives in bulk and sold to retailers. It owns the ****** brand Anglo Arms, which the company admitted in 2021 had gained a “

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“.

The company said earlier this year that “over the last five to six years ****** ****** has increased”. It added “as a result… we reduced the Anglo Arms range to cover practical and traditional knives only”.

Eddy Eliaz is the firm’s managing director and major shareholder.

His younger brother Adam Eliaz is the director and major shareholder in DNA Leisure, an online retailer, located on the same industrial estate. DNA Leisure also surrendered 1,542 knives.

Both companies announced in June they would no longer sell knives, beyond their current stock.

A post on Sporting Wholesale’s website said “after supplying the trade with cutlery and archery products for over 20 years” it was “saddened to say that Sporting Wholesale Ltd are now ceasing the ***** of these items”.

It added one final shipment of the products was due to be delivered “but no new orders will be placed”.

“This is all quite unfortunate, but the *** is now not a place where these items can be openly sold,” it continued.

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Eddy Eliaz is the managing director and major shareholder of Sporting Wholesale

The move followed

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the previous month of the sentencing of Rayis Nibeel and an accomplice for the ******* of Omar Khan in Luton.

In 2023 Nibeel had bought 79 knives and machetes from DNA Leisure despite being only 16. He used a family member’s ID to buy the blades online over 13 separate transactions.

DNA Leisure said that Nibeel had committed “******” and the company had used an “age-verified courier” to make the deliveries.

The ****** that ******* Mr Khan was sold as part of a pair by DNA Leisure, which described them as the “Anglo Arms bayonet style fixed blade ****** set”. In April this year, a similar set was being sold for £29.95 by DNA.

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The type of ****** used to ***** Omar Khan in Luton was among those surrendered to police

A wound from an Anglo Arms machete ******* 14-year-old

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after an ******* in November 2022 in Newcastle. Two teenagers were jailed for manslaughter.

A ******* trial also heard how an Anglo Arms bullet lock ****** was used to fatally stab

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in Halifax in October 2023.

Of those attacks, only the ******* used to ******* Omar Khan is being outlawed.

There has been criticism that the new ban, which was designed by the previous ************* government,

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.

On 9 September, the Labour government held a

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at Downing Street focused on ****** ******. It said it was considering a further ban on ninja swords and making it ******* to buy dangerous weapons online.

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Police found at least a dozen different models of knives among those surrendered

Bedfordshire Police said it is also working to tackle a ****** market, which could be bolstered by the stricter ban.

Det Insp Graham Newton, from the force’s anti-gangs unit, said while the zombie ****** law change was welcome, he was aware that “like other prohibited items, there will be some people that try to make a ********* gain”.

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Det Insp Graham Newton said some closed social media groups were used to arrange ******** ****** sales

He promised that detectives would be as “inventive” in trying to catch ******** sellers as the sellers themselves.

“We need to stop the knives at source and then stop the ********* happening on the street.”

Si Philbert, a youth practitioner with Wingman Mentors and St Giles Trust, said while the new ban was “not enough” it was “a start” and “overdue”.

Wingman works with Bedfordshire’s Home Office-funded ********* and Exploitation Reduction Unit to try to prevent ****** ******.

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Si Philbert said many young people who carry knives do so out of *****

“If zombie knives didn’t exist,” Mr Philbert, 49, added, “we’d still have a problem with ****** ******.”

Mr Philbert said “nine times out of 10” young people carry knives out of *****.

He said he encouraged young people to “change their environment” from a “war zone” to a “safer space… where they don’t feel like they need to protect themselves”.

“If you can prevent them from picking up a ****** in the first place, it’s better than just banning the knives.”

The zombie ****** surrender scheme is open until the end of 23 September.

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