Britain to Outlaw Machetes and Zombie Knives

Suella Braverman pledges to get machetes off Britain's streets as the weapons are set to be outlawed under new plans announced by ministers

Machetes will be outlawed under plans to be announced by ministers today.

Changes will ban a wider range of 'zombie' knives which were made illegal in 2016. 

Legislation would be updated to cover all zombie-style weapons.

These plans seek to give the police greater powers to seize and destroy these weapons.

It also proposes giving police new powers to seize blades found at someone's home.

Sales of machetes will be banned

Blades which are prohibited under current law include flick knives, 'butterfly' knives, swordsticks and any object with a concealed blade, 'stealth' knives made of materials to avoid metal detectors, and 'spiral' knives with a helix-shaped blade which are designed to inflict larger stab wounds.

This is the terrifying moment a thug pulls out a huge 'machete' and tries to hack a man during a 'targeted attack' in Manchester city centre

Police were called to Corporation Street near Exchange Square after reports of two men, one of which armed with a weapon 'believed to be a large knife', were fighting in broad daylight. 

The individual holding the machete takes aim at the other.

The man in grey loses his footing and stumbles to the floor.

Inspector Richard Flanagan of GMP Central division said of the incident: 'This happened in a busy part of Manchester city centre in broad daylight'

The Home Office plan could see kitchen knives seized from the homes of suspected criminals

The fight was in full view of the public at a particularly busy time for commuters in the city

A teenager was found to have a 2-ft long machete when he was stopped by police in a routine stop and search operation in north London

The stop and search was conducted by local police officers in Cricklewood as part of their efforts to crack down on knife crime in the area

Men wearing balaclavas attack each other with three-foot machetes outside a KFC in Leeds. The scenes caught on camera were filmed as commuters walked on through the West Yorkshire city centre.

A man flailed a large knife outside a Lebanese restaurant on the A404 Harrow Road in the Maida Hill neighbourhood

 The man with the machete is seen running down the busy street while brandishing the weapon

Police instructed him to 'get on the floor' and 'put your hands on your head', to which he complied

 A man in Leeds can be seen holding a machete in the middle of the street 

 a man holding a machete in his left hand starts to run away

West Yorkshire Police (WYP) responded to reports of a disturbance involving masked men with machetes. Pictured: A police officer holding a machete found near to the scene

Police say they found two machetes near to the scene. Pictured: A police officer holding one of the machetes found near the scene

A masked pair check the windows and doors at the front of a house at 3.48am in Eastwood, Essex, with one holding a large knife

The pair are able to open the front downstairs window and peer inside a woman's home

The men take a closer look inside using a torch

a man was convicted of attempted murder after causing panic on the London Underground as he hacked at a stranger with a machete

 a machete-wielding gang were jailed for stabbing a young father to death to steal his Gucci bag in Newport, south Wales (gang member Ethan Strickland pictured)

Pictured: some examples of different zombie knives, varying in length from a long blade to shorter styles

Zombie-killer knife

also  machetes will be banned

A zombie knife deeply embedded within a victim's back in a process known as 'bagging', where the lower body is targeted so the victim has to wear a colostomy bag