A judge has called for 10-inch kitchen knives to be blunted amid the increase in knife crime.
Judge Nic Madge has suggested introducing a scheme whereby members of the public could get their kitchen knives modified.
They would be taken to centres where they would be grounded down to have round ends.
“But why we do need 8- or 10-inch kitchen knives with points? Butchers and fishmongers do, but how often, if at all, does a domestic chef use the point of an 8- or 10-inch knife? Rarely, if at all,” Judge Madge said at Luton crown court during his retirement ceremony, the Daily Mail reported. -
He added that there had been a huge increase in knife crime across the country, with at least 77 knife-related incidents in Bedfordshire alone, where Judge Madge resides.
“I would urge all those with any role in relation to knives – manufacturers, shops, the police, local authorities, the government – to consider preventing the sale of long pointed knives, except in rare, defined, circumstances, and replacing such knives with rounded ends.
“It might even be that the police could organise a programme whereby the owners of kitchen knives, which have been properly and lawfully bought for culinary purposes, could be taken somewhere to be modified, with the points being ground down into rounded ends.”
Judge Madge said if his proposals were implemented there would be a “substantial” reduction in the number of life-threatening injuries caused by stabbings.
