Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of possession of a zombie knife under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 since the commencement of that Act.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of prosecutions and convictions for various offences under the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 and Criminal Justice Act 1988, since 2019 in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2022.

Navigate to the ‘Prosecutions & Convictions’ tab and use the HO offence code filter to select the applicable offence:

• 19520 - Summary offences under Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 and Criminal Justice Act 1988

However, whether the offences relate to possession of a zombie knife specifically is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

Information on charges is held by the Home Office, however, they do not hold information on the ‘possession of a zombie knife’. The Home Office does collect and publish information on the number of ‘Possession of article with blade or point’ offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, and their investigative outcomes including charges here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).