Retailers will be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives, and those caught selling blades to under-18s will face tougher sentences under a new raft of measures to clamp down on young people’s access to weapons labelled Ronan’s law.
Named after Ronan Kanda, the 16-year-old killed in Wolverhampton in 2022 by a teenager carrying a 22in ninja blade he had ordered online, the new laws are part of a raft of anti-knife crime plans announced by the government on Wednesday.
A government-commissioned review has found that age verification for buying knives online is “a huge vulnerability”, and that 15 illegal dealers had sold more than 2,000 knives in an 18-month period.
Metropolitan police commander Stephen Clayman, the national lead for knife crime who led the review, said: “I could go to a legitimate dealer and buy 300 knives, and the dealer has no obligation to tell police that someone’s just bought that, or the fact I bought five knives each week for the last 10 weeks.
“We need to plug that and understand who is buying these knives. Because they are then selling indiscriminately to children and young men, predominantly men, because there are no age verification safeguards.”
He added that in some cases it was harder to buy paracetamol than a knife.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “It is horrifying how easy it is for young people to get hold of knives online even though children’s lives are being lost, and families and communities are left devastated as a result.”
The Southport attacker Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three children and injured another eight and two adults in a knife attack when he was 17, bought the murder weapon online, despite being underage, by concealing his identity.
One of Ronan’s attackers, Prabjeet Veadhesa, then 16, ordered a 22in blade online using his mother’s ID to pass security checks and collected it from the Post Office on the day of the attack, facing no age or identity verification.
He had bought nearly 30 knives and machetes this way over several months, selling many of them to friends at school for a profit.
Ronan’s mother, Pooja Kanda, said her son “didn’t stand a chance” against the weapons. “How was this allowed? A 16-year-old managed to get these weapons online and sold them to other people,” she said.
“We welcome the government’s plans to tackle the online sale of these weapons, and the proposal of a registration scheme, which will continue to implement stricter measures on the online sale of bladed articles. We have so much work to tackle knife crime; this is a much-needed beginning.
“I wish this was done years ago, and my son would be with me today.”
The new measures, to be introduced to the Crime and Policing Bill in spring, will mean retailers are required to report any sales to residential addresses they believe may have been made by people planning to illegally resell the blades.
The prison sentence for people caught selling weapons to under-18s will be increased from six months to up to two years, and both the individual who has processed the sale and the chief executive of a company face being charged.
The measure will be implemented even after an official review found that longer incarceration had driven the country’s justice system to breaking point, and that successive governments had prioritised longer prison sentences over cutting reoffending.
The government said it is also piloting a dedicated new central police unit, with £1m funding, to tackle the issue, and in spring it will launch a consultation on whether a registration scheme should be put in place for all online retailers selling knives.
The government has already announced that a new two-step system will be mandated for retailers selling knives online, meaning customers will have to submit photo ID at the point of sale and again on delivery.
They will also introduce a new offence of possessing an offensive weapon with intent for violence, carrying a prison sentence of up to four years.
Not included in the measures was a ban on kitchen knives with a pointed end, which Cooper previously said was being considered.
Patrick Green, the chief executive of the knife crime prevention charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: “I am pleased to see that the government is listening to frontline organisations and is tightening the legislation needed to eliminate the supply of dangerous and intimidating weapons.
“It has been our stated position that a licensing system for retailers is the only way to ensure that specialised knives are only sold to those with legitimate and lawful need. This will ensure that only reputable retailers who comply with the law and prioritise public safety will be able to sell knives”.
