Yvette Cooper shed tears as she became emotional discussing the victim of a ninja sword stabbing in Wolverhampton.
As a ban on the weapons came into effect, the home secretary described the mother of Ronan Kanda, 16, showing her the last moment she shared with her son before he was murdered.
“His mother, Pooja, showed me the CCTV from outside her house. [It was] the last time she saw her son. It was the honour of her showing me their affectionate goodbye … then he goes off and she doesn’t see him again,” Ms Cooper told The Times as she wiped away tears.
Ronan was stabbed through the heart with a ninja sword in a case of mistaken identity in Wolverhampton in 2022. CCTV of the attack showed Ronan smiling at his phone with his headphones in when he was attacked with the weapon that two 16-year-olds had bought online.
Pooja went on to launch a campaign urging ministers to ban ninja swords and knives with blades longer than 14 inches, with a single, straight cutting edge and a tanto-style point. She was awarded an OBE in the King’s birthday honours for services to knife crime prevention.
Ms Cooper unveiled the ban shortly after Labour came into power last July under a package titled Ronan’s Law.
Speaking as it came into effect, she said: “I can talk you through all the targeted policing we’re doing but in the end it is about what [victims’] families are experiencing and the change they want to see.”
Those caught with ninja swords now face up to six months in prison, a sentence which will rise to two years under Labour’s Crime and Policing Bill.
“Since day one, we have acted with urgency to turn the tide on knife crime, which destroys lives and devastates communities,” Ms Cooper told The Times.
Reacting to the ban when it was tabled in parliament, Ms Kanda said: “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. Each step towards tackling knife crime is a step towards getting justice for our boy Ronan.”
Ninja swords can be handed over in knife-surrender bins or local police stations under a surrender scheme running in July.
Under Ronan’s Law, the Home Office has also announced a raft of measures, including making retailers report bulk or suspicious sales to police, and increasing the jail sentence for selling weapons to children, or illegal blades such as zombie knives, to two years.
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