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Knife crime
Knife crime laws
Listed below are the knife crime laws for the UK. Please note there are some variations in the law between England, Wales & Scotland.
- It is against the law to carry a knife in a public place, unless the blade is less than 3 inches long and is a manual folding blade. Doing so can carry a prison sentence of up to 4 years even if it is not used in England & Wales, and 5 years in Scotland.
- It is against the law to carry a knife on behalf of someone else
- Using any knife in a threatening way, even those that can be legally carried, is a criminal offence.
- A person must be 18 or over to purchase a knife. This includes cutlery and kitchen knives. In Scotland, people between the ages of 16 and 18 can legally purchase cutlery and kitchen knives.
- A person over the age of 16 can purchase a knife only if the blade is less than 3 inches in length and is a manual folding blade.
- In the UK, it is illegal to bring into the country, sell, possess, hire or give someone a banned knife. Banned knives include: butterfly knives, disguised knives, flick knives, and zombie knives. A full list of banned knives in the UK can be found on the GOV website.
Stop & search
Police have the power to stop and search any person if they have 'reasonable grounds' to suspect that person may be carrying something that is against the law or could cause harm to others. This could include: illegal drugs, a knife or weapon, stolen items or an item that could be used to commit a crime.
Examples of 'reasonable grounds' could include:
- a member of the public has reported that someone is carrying something they shouldn't be.
- somebody matches the description of who they are looking for.
Joint Enterprise
Joint Enterprise is a section of the law which allows two or more people to be convicted of the same crime, potentially receiving the same sentence, even if they had differing levels of involvement.
The Joint Enterprise law is for circumstances where there is evidence to prove a group of people were involved in a crime, but where it is difficult to determine who is the main perpetrator. For example, if a murder has taken place and there is evidence that 5 people were involved, but it is difficult to determine which of those 5 dealt the fatal blow, they could all be convicted of murder under Joint Enterprise.
