Ninja swords to finally be banned in UK from this summer
The mother of a 16-year-old boy who was killed with a ninja sword three years ago has said a ban on the weapons is another ‘step towards getting justice’ for her son.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced the style of sword – which has become a weapon of choice for street killers in the UK – will be banned from August 1.
The move follows tireless campaigning from the family of Ronan Kanda, who was killed on a Wolverhampton street in a case of mistaken identity in 2022.
His mum Pooja Kanda said: ‘Today marks a very important day for us as a family and our campaign.’
She added: ‘Since losing our beautiful boy Ronan, we have relentlessly campaigned for a ban on Ninja swords – the lethal weapon which took his life.
‘We believe ninja swords have no place in our society other than to seriously harm and kill.’
Ahead of the election last year, Metro revealed exclusively that Labour planned to introduce Ronan’s Law if they formed the next government.
The name is applied to a range of legislation which aims to make it more difficult for people to buy deadly knives online.
An independent review into online knife marketplaces published last month revealed stores are offering cheap ‘mystery boxes’ with a surprise selection of weapons.
What happened to Ronan Kanda?
‘Kind-hearted and loving’ teenager Ronan Kanda was attacked on a street in his home town of Wolverhampton on June 29 2022.
Ronan, who was not the intended victim of the attack, was just yards away from his home which he shared with his parents and sister when the attack happened.
He was walking back from his friend’s house where he had gone to buy a Playstation controller.
Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill, both 17, saw Ronan leaving the house where their intended victim lived and assumed he was the boy they were looking for.
He was followed and stabbed twice with a ‘vicious’ ninja knife that Veadhesa had bought online.
Both Shergill and Veadhesa fled the scene when they realised they had stabbed the wrong person and disposed of the weapons used and clothing they had been wearing.
In 2023, Veadhesa was jailed for a minimum of 18 years and Shergill for a minimum of 16 years.
The ban on ninja swords, described by the Home Office as the ‘final part of Ronan’s Law’, will make it illegal to possess, manufacture, import or sell the blades.
From August 1, anyone caught with one in private could face six months in prison – soon increasing to two years under proposals in the Crime and Policing Bill.
A surrender scheme will run between July 1 and 31 to allow members of the public to hand in their swords safely.
To prevent exploitation of the scheme, any weapons bought after today will not be eligible for compensation.
Yvette Cooper said: ‘Knife crime is destroying young lives as too many teenagers are being drawn into violence and it is far too easy for them to get hold of dangerous weapons.
‘Ronan Kanda was just 16 when he was ruthlessly killed by two boys only a year older than him.
What is a ninja sword?
The quick definition of a ‘ninja-style’ sword is one with a blade between 14 inches and 24 inches with one straight cutting edge with a tanto style point.
To get a little more complex, it needs a primary straight cutting edge, a secondary straight cutting edge, and a blunt spine.
What’s a tanto style point? That’s the name for when the angle between its primary cutting edge and its secondary edge is less than 90 degrees, and the angle between its secondary straight cutting edge and its spine is greater than 90 degrees.
If you swap the ‘greater than’ and ‘less than’, you end up with what’s called a reverse tanto style point. They can also be found on ninja swords.
A full definition is available on the Home Office website.
‘Today we are introducing the final part of Ronan’s law in his memory – banning the ninja swords that his killers should never have been able to use.’
The other parts of the law will require online retailers to report any bulk or suspicious-looking sales of knives to the police, and introduce a two-step verification process for buying blades over the internet.
There will also be tougher penalties for those who are caught with a knife in public and those who sell knives to under-18s.
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