POLICE on Thursday launched a national hub to crack down on the sale of banned knives and machetes on an online "grey market", including sales to children.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed about 50,000 knife crimes were recorded in England and Wales in the year ending September 2025, with the highest rates in London.
Statistics released by the Metropolitan Police for 2025 showed a quarter of stabbing victims in the capital were under 18.
The National Police Chiefs' Council has set up a National Knife Crime Centre, with £1.7 bn in government funding per year for the next three years.
The centre will have a "specific focus on tackling the supply of those knives ... that will often fall into the hands of the vulnerable or violent, including children", said its leader, police commander Stephen Clayman.
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Police said the spread of stabbings was linked to easy access to large "status weapons" such as machetes online.
Clayman said more than half of the websites identified as selling such illegal weapons are based outside Britain, including in the United States and China.
The minister for policing, Sarah Jones, said the government has set a "very ambitious" goal of cutting knife crime by half within a decade and described the centre as "a really pivotal point".
She said it "will coordinate investigations into illegal sellers" and target a "grey market in which large quantities of knives and weapons are purchased online".
Clayman said there is no compulsory regulation of knife sellers in Britain. While sales to children are illegal, age checks can be bypassed.
"There are people who are just selling over social media channels, just dismissively ignoring the law, and that's what we're trying to stop," he told AFP.
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He said some sellers are children who may "think it's an entrepreneurial thing to do".
"Then you've got people who know it's illegal, they're doing it to facilitate violence", he said.
'Inflicting violence'
At the event, knives used for police training were displayed, including ninja swords and machetes, which are only banned if they have a serrated blade.
Britain has banned ownership, including at home, of "ninja swords" with blades up to 24 inches (61 centimetres) long, and "zombie"-type knives. Surrender schemes have led to thousands of weapons being handed in.
Legislation going through parliament would bring in stronger age verification checks for online sales and require reporting of buyers making bulk orders.
The measures are part of Ronan's Law, named after Ronan Kanda, a teenager killed with a 22-inch sword in 2022 by two other teenagers in a case of mistaken identity.
Ronan's elder sister, Nikita, said one of the killers bought the weapon online on a site that "openly sold dangerous weapons with minimal checks and easy access for anyone".
"These weapons are not harmless objects. They are being used to enable, inflict and escalate violence."
(With inputs from agencies)
