Ronan's Law: More than 1,000 weapons handed in across West Midlands as ban on ninja swords comes into effect

New figures released by the Home Office on the day Ronan's Law comes into force (August 1), show the number of knife offences in the West Midlands force area falling by a quarter compared to last year after a series of targeted operations.

They show the number of offences falling from 2,520 in the year to June 2024, to 1,922 over the following 12 months.

More than 1,000 weapons have also been handed in across the country following a nationwide surrender scheme ahead of today's new laws.

From today, it will be an offence to manufacture, supply, sell, possess or import so-called 'ninja swords' like the one used to murder 16-year-old Ronan Kanda near his home in Wolverhampton, in a case of mistaken identity.

More than 1,000 such weapons have been handed in over the past month in what the Government describes as the country's biggest ever surrender scheme.

Ronan's mother Pooja Kanda said: “Ronan was just 16 years old when his life was stolen by a 22-inch ninja sword that should never have been so easy to buy. 

"Ronan’s Law is not only a step towards justice for my son, but for every parent who wants to see their child come home safely."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the fall in knife robberies came after she launched a dedicated police task force to tackle the problem.

She said the reduction in robberies in the West Midlands force area had been driven by intense police efforts and a range of tactics, including extra visible patrols, using drones, knife arches and detection dogs to support police on the ground, and deploying plain-clothes officers. 

Miss Cooper said the Government had acted with urgency 'since day one' to turn the tide on knife crime, which destroyed lives and devastated communities.  

"When we came to office, knife-enabled robbery was increasing at a concerning rate, but we have now started to drive numbers of those offences down through the work of our dedicated taskforces, and as a result, we have also seen the first small reduction in overall knife crime for four years," she said.

Miss Cooper said West Midlands Police would be one of seven forces to benefit from a £5 million pilot scheme using sophisticated new mapping technologies to target hyper-concentrated knife crime hotspots.

The funding will be targeted towards 50 of the top 100 hyper-local knife crime hotspots to trial targeted intervention tactics and prevent further offending. This could include using more facial recognition and advanced knife detection technology, or use of police drones to support the increased presence of police officers in our communities.

“The drop in knife-enabled robbery in key problem areas shows the impact that our strong new action on knife crime is having, but we now need to supercharge these efforts through more smart and targeted interventions," Miss Cooper said.

"Anyone can be a victim of knife crime, but new ‘hex mapping’ technology shows that the vast majority of knife crime is concentrated in a relatively small, hyper-concentrated number of areas. 

“We will use that new technology to support our mission to halve knife crime over the next decade. In the 2020s, the way to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime is also to be smart on crime, using the latest technology to target criminals and problem areas, and keep the country safe.” 

Mrs Kanda, who now tours schools across the West Midlands warning about the danger of knives, said Ronan's Law was about saving lives, closing dangerous loopholes, and holding those responsible to account.   

"The Government's knife surrender scheme has been a sign of commitment to tackling the scourge of knife crime," she said.

"While there is still much more to do, these are significant steps in the right direction."