Knife culture among today’s youth: brazenness, blades and rise of victims.

There are limits to what shock can do. After a decade of headlines, CCTV clips and anguished parliamentary debates, we might expect British society to have hardened its defences against the use and glorification of knives. Yet the reality is more complicated and, at times, bleak: a visible “knife culture” has taken root among parts of today’s youth, one that blends bravado, social media, easy online supply and, too often, lethal consequences.

This article unpicks that culture: how and why so many young men now feel it is “okay” to carry blades (including machetes and swords), how reputation and image factor into violence, why existing law and enforcement have struggled, and why the online market has been such a weak link. I use reporting and statistics from the UK over the last ten years to ground the discussion.

The brazenness - knives as normality, machetes and swords as escalation

When knives were mainly kitchen tools and a minority criminal weapon, carrying one was still serious, but it tended to be hidden, almost furtive. Over the 2010s and into the 2020s a different tone emerged in many youth spaces: visible carrying, public brandishing and even videos of large blades shared online. What’s striking is not only the number of carry incidents but the scale of the weapons involved. Machetes, zombie-style blades and even swords (samurai-style and “ninja” blades) have appeared repeatedly in crimes and police recoveries. These are not small folding knives; they are large, intimidating weapons that change an attack from a stabbing into a near-military or theatrical assault.

Outside a shopping centre a young man with a machete.

This is not theoretical. High-profile cases over the past decade show large blades repeatedly used in attacks: a machete murder in a London park (2016), a brutal bus attack where a 14 year old was killed with machetes (2025), and the horrific Hainault rampage in April 2024 in which a 14 year old, Daniel Anjorin, was killed by a man wielding samurai swords. These episodes are not isolated curiosities, they are part of a pattern in which larger weapons have appeared with alarming frequency.

Why do young people carry? Protection, prestige and social pressure

The reasons young people say they carry knives are layered and often contradictory: fear (“protection”), coercion (gang-related pressure), opportunity (for violent robbery or intimidation), and reputation (status). Research and police reports have repeatedly shown that carrying can be framed as defensive even while it becomes the instrument of offence. For some, owning or carrying a large, showy weapon (a machete, a long “zombie” blade, a sword) confers instant intimidation value, and, in certain subcultures, reputation.

Some knives taken off the streets.

“Reputation” matters more now than it might have in previous generations precisely because of social media. Short videos, messaging apps and encrypted groups let images of weapons and violent acts spread, and they give the chance to build a persona quickly. In many cases, young males who want to appear dangerous or attract followers will brandish a blade, show it in videos, or film others committing violence so that their “reputation” accrues online. Journalistic investigations and policing statements have linked social platforms to both the display and the facilitation of weapon sales.

Examples from the British news (a ten year snapshot)

To make this concrete, here are several emblematic examples from the UK over the past decade, not because they are the only ones, but because they show recurring dynamics: big blades, youth involvement, and public visibility.

• Stefan Appleton: “Zombie Killer” machete (2016): A 17 year old was killed with a large “zombie”-style machete in a north London park; the case highlighted how novelty/online sold machetes had migrated from novelty item into weapon.

Young Stefan Appleton was being chased by Lewinson when he tripped and fell

• Hainault sword attack - Daniel Anjorin (April 2024): A man in a violent public rampage used samurai swords; a 14 year old boy, Daniel Anjorin, was murdered and others seriously injured. The case drew attention to both extreme violence with swords and how such events can be sensationalised and shared. The attacker’s use of long blades and the shock of the attack intensified public debate.

Monzo will be sentenced, with the judge having told him to expect a life term for killing young Daniel.

• Machete murder on a London bus - Kelyan Bokassa (2025): In 2025 two teenagers pleaded guilty to murdering a 14 year old who was attacked with machetes on a bus, a killing that reignited concerns about teens carrying large blades and the ease of sourcing them.

The two killers were captured on CCTV fleeing the scene while still holding their machetes following the murder.

• Wolverhampton and Ronan Kanda (2022/legislative aftermath): The murder of 16 year old Ronan Kanda with a large blade bought online catalysed political pressure and a campaign (Ronan’s Law) to clamp down on online sales and “ninja” swords. That tragic case helped drive recent legislative changes.

• Younger offenders and machetes: Courts have sentenced very young defendants in machete murders (including cases where attackers were 12 to 13 at the time of the offence), underlining how quickly dangerous weapons have found their way into very young hands.

These episodes are painful to read again and again because they underline the same shift: blades that used to be rare in street violence are now visible, shared, and sometimes purchased and resold in bulk.

Numbers: worrying trends and the limits of one metric

Readers should always treat statistics carefully: different sources use police recorded offences, hospital admissions, court convictions, or mortality data, and each tells a slightly different story. Still, multiple official summaries and research bodies paint a worrying picture:

• Knife enabled offences have climbed markedly over the last decade. One widely cited analysis noted an 80 to 87% rise in knife crime in England and Wales over a ten-year window (depending on specific time ranges and measures), with tens of thousands of offences recorded annually.

• Children and young people are disproportionately affected, both as victims and as offenders. Government and third-sector reports show substantial numbers of cautions and convictions for possession by juveniles and an increase in hospital admissions and knife-enabled homicides involving under 25s in certain recent years.

• Machetes and longer blades are not a tiny minority: in some years the Office for National Statistics and other aggregators recorded dozens of homicides where a machete or large blade was the weapon; police “knife hunter” databases have been tracking the types in circulation.

Numbers confirm what headlines show: large blade attacks are numerically smaller than all knife offences but are disproportionately horrifying, often injuring or killing multiple people in a single incident, and they seem to be more present in the youth-related cases that attract public outrage.

The supply side: why knives (including machetes and swords) are so easy to get

A page on a website based in the UK (October 2025).

A central reason for the shift is supply. For years investigators, police commanders and government reviews have pointed to a weak regulatory environment around online sales and social media marketplaces:

• Online retailers and loopholes: Investigations and an independent Home Office commissioned review found that age verification for online knife sales was patchy and easily circumvented: underage buyers have bought large numbers of knives by using someone else’s ID or exploiting lax checks. The review described the “shocking ease” with which weapons could be obtained in some instances.

• Social media/grey markets: Police and reporting have shown that encrypted apps and social platforms (examples given by policing leaders include Telegram, TikTok and others) have been used to advertise and arrange weapon sales. Encrypted groups and short-lived posts make policing harder and let sellers direct buyers to off-platform payment and collection channels.

• Retailers selling in bulk for resale: Police evidence cited in government briefings indicated that some traders were selling hundreds or thousands of blades that were then resold without checks, an industrialised supply chain that could flood streets with weapons. That discovery helped push ministers to consider a registration or licensing scheme for online knife retailers.

Put bluntly: until very recently you could buy large blades online without the checks that would make it hard for a 15 or 16 year old to obtain one. High profile cases (and a government review) exposed that reality and helped prompt legislative countermeasures.

Have UK laws been enough? The changes and the gaps

It is tempting to say “the law” is to blame, but the truth is mixed. The law already criminalises carrying offensive weapons in public and bans some categories of items. What has mattered is enforcement gaps, online regulatory blind spots and the speed with which new weapon variants and grey-market sales have outpaced older rules.

Recent government action (early 2025 and into 2025 - 2026) shows acknowledgement of the problem and a legislative response:

• Ronan’s Law package and new measures: Following cases like Ronan Kanda’s, the government moved to strengthen online checks: requiring photo ID at point of sale and on delivery, mandating retailers to report suspicious or bulk purchases, banning specific categories (e.g., ninja swords), and increasing penalties for selling to under 18s. A national surrender/compensation scheme and targeted amnesties have been rolled out alongside enforcement units.

• Practical limits: Yet these legal fixes face practical hurdles. If social platforms act as adpages and encrypted groups handle transactions, imposing ID checks on legitimate ecommerce sites will not stop black-market selling. If sellers are operating abroad or through transient pages, UK regulation and enforcement need cross platform, cross-border coordination. Police themselves have warned that while bans and ID checks are helpful, they do not on their own solve the social drivers that push young people toward violence.

So: laws are catching up, but the reality for a long period was that legal protections were insufficient and that enforcement and technological remedies lagged the trade in blades.

Reputation, social media and the contagiousness of violence

A painful feature of modern youth violence is its contagiousness through online culture. Video clips, boasting, and “flexing” (showing off weapons) can normalize carrying and incentivise escalation: if a machete or sword gives you more views, more likes, or more local fear, for a certain type of participant the pragmatic calculus shifts from “avoid trouble” to “get respect.”

Several investigations and police reports have linked platform content and instant fame to an increase in the display of weapons. Platforms with ephemeral content, algorithmic feeds, and encrypted buyer-seller routes have provided both a stage and a marketplace. That is a toxic combination: amplification plus supply.

What this means on the ground

• For communities it means more fear, more trauma and the collapse of informal public spaces: parks, bus routes, and even high streets become contested and dangerous. Hospital data and youth surveys show rising admissions and high exposure to violence among children and teens.

• For policing it means a strategic shift from intermittent arrests to sustained supply-side work (tracking sellers, shutting down online trade, monitoring bulk purchases) plus partnership with platforms. The government has started investing in a national police unit and legal measures to force platforms and retailers to act; the effectiveness of these measures will be tested over the coming months and years.

• For parents, schools and youth services it means redoubling prevention, education and routes away from criminality. The statistics suggest law enforcement alone cannot stop the social pressure that pushes children toward knives.

Pragmatic reforms that have been tried, and where more is needed

The UK response over the past few years shows movement in several directions:

• Supply-side controls: bans on specific blade types (e.g., “ninja” swords), mandatory age checks, reporting of bulk sales, increased penalties for illegal selling and an online retail registration consultation. These are sensible steps.

• Platform regulation: proposals to hold social media firms accountable for knife glorifying content, and to require takedowns and stronger monitoring. This addresses amplification channels but challenges remain around encrypted apps.

• Local violence prevention: youth outreach, trauma-informed school policies, and targeted policing where county lines and gang recruitment operate. These interventions are evidence-based but resource-intensive and unevenly implemented. Research reviews emphasise multi-agency prevention as crucial.

But the gaps are obvious: online grey markets, cross-border sellers, and the attractiveness of weapons as status symbols are not solved by a single law. And social interventions need sustained investment, one off amnesties and headlines are not enough.

Final thoughts - reality check and responsibility

We should avoid moral panics that scapegoat entire generations. The majority of young people do not commit violent crimes; many are victims, not perpetrators. But there is a concentrated problem: groups of young men (and some younger boys) are carrying knives, buying bigger blades, and, in some cases, committing violence to build a reputation or defend an imagined status. That brazenness is real, and it’s been fuelled by:

1. Social pressures and the transactional value of reputation online.

2. A commercial ecosystem that, until recently, made large blades too easy to obtain.

3. A gap between law, enforcement and the speed of digital markets.

The UK has begun to respond: targeted bans, tougher online ID rules, reporting obligations for retailers, and pressure on platforms. Those are necessary steps. But the deeper work, rebuilding safe spaces, investing in youth services, intervening with at risk children, and cutting the social supply of status through non-violent routes, is the long game. If we focus only on policing and bans, the visible problem may be reduced in some ways, but the underlying causes that drive young people to arm themselves and perform toughness will remain.

Sources (select highlights)

• Independent review and government announcements on online knife sales and age verification (Ronan’s Law package; end to end review).

• Reuters reporting on rising knife crime and ninja sword amnesty/ban.

• The Guardian coverage of the Hainault sword attack (Daniel Anjorin) and other high-profile cases.

• Reporting and court coverage of machete murders and teenage offenders (e.g., 2016 machete case; 2025 bus attack).

• Youth Endowment Fund, AOAV and Commons Library research and data summaries on youth violence, hospital admissions and trends.