A British cutlery firm is offering a solution for the rash of knife crimes plaguing Great Britain: knives that have square ends.
As Insider notes, “In October 2019, it was reported that knife crime had reached a record high in England and Wales, with more than 44,000 offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument recorded by police in the 12 months leading up to June.”
Thus Viners, a British cutlery and kitchenware firm, has created the “Assure collection,” which came “in response to rising knife crime statistics and new government legislation.” The firm states that it has been “repeatedly tested to ensure the tip does not pierce skin intentionally or otherwise.”
Viners issued a press release asserting:
With knife-related crime incidents at a record high and a reported 285 fatalities in the last 12 months alone, the UK government has taken the decision to reclassify kitchen knives as an offensive weapon with the new Offensive Weapons Act 2019, leading some retailers to remove single knives from sale in retail stores … The new Assure collection from Viners has been created in response to this new legislation, with the team extensively testing a new shape knife that is highly functional for the modern cook but shaped to reduce and prevent injuries, accidents and fatalities.
The knives range in price from roughly $5 to $8; a four-piece set will sell for roughly $20.
The British Ministry of Justice has stated, “In the year ending September 2019, 38 per cent of knife and offensive weapon offences resulted in an immediate custodial sentence, compared with 23 per cent in the year ending September 2009. The average length of the custodial sentences received also increased over the same period, from six months to eight months.”
Under Secretary for the Ministry of Justice Chris Philp said: “This government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime. We are recruiting 20,000 more police officers, extending stop and search and making sure the most violent offenders spend longer behind bars. These figures should serve as a stark warning to those carrying knives – you are more likely to be jailed, and for longer, than at any point in the last decade.”
The Offensive Weapons Act states, “A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, the person breaches a knife crime prevention order or an interim knife crime prevention order. A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable—(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, to a fine or to both;(b )on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, to a fine or to both.”
According to The Times, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “will take personal charge of a new cabinet committee to tackle surging levels of knife crime and violence, with a particular focus on “county lines” gangs that are abusing and exploiting children. A cabinet source told The Times, “He said that we have historically been strong on law and order but in recent years been less clear on it. He said that he wanted a return to clarity on it and will be addressing the concerns of the British public.”
Johnson told “BBC Breakfast”: “I want to see crime come down. I want to see the county lines drugs gangs wound up. They are reducing the quality of life for people across our country, they are killing young kids.”
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