Machetes are being used in a crime every hour on average – a record high and six times more than eight years ago.
The deadly weapons featured in almost 700 offences a month as the weapon of choice for violent thugs.
It comes after a string of teenagers were fatally stabbed with the blades, including Jermaine Cools, 14, and Rishmeet Singh, 16.
Jermaine’s killer had previously been caught with three zombie and Rambo knives while one of Rishmeet’s murderers was free despite having been convicted of carrying a blade.
Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, which campaigns against knife crime, said: “There is no legitimate reason why anyone would need to buy a machete in the UK.
“Machetes are designed for clearing land. They are also far too easy to obtain, a few clicks online and you can have one delivered to your door the next day.
“These weapons all too frequently end up on our streets and are used to intimidate, maim, and kill. They have no place in our society and they should be banned.”
Suella Braverman is now the fifth Tory Home Secretary to promise a ban on machetes and zombie knives, named as such because their ornate blades are often seen in horror films.
Botched Tory legislation means that seven years after they first promised the changes the horrific weapons are still available to criminals.
Latest figures from police forces in England and Wales show machetes are being used in almost 700 offences every month.
But the true total is even higher as the nation’s largest force, the Metropolitan Police, failed to provide stats, saying it would take staff too long to compile. A survey of police forces found machetes were involved in 1,335 crime incidents in two months at the end of last year.
A total of 37 of the 44 police forces in England and Wales responded with machete numbers to the Freedom of Information Act survey.
Marques Walker, now 17, was jailed for life this week for murdering Jermaine Cools, 14, while on bail for carrying a zombie knife.
Walker stabbed Jermaine seven times with a 3ft machete after the lad fell outside a chicken shop in West Croydon, South London, in November last year. In April last year four young men were jailed for the murder and robbery of Ryan O’Connor, 26, while walking home in Newport, South Wales.
His killers, who stole his Gucci bag as he lay in the street dying from a wound to the heart, were armed with hunting knives.
Teenage knife fiends jailed for life
Two teenagers who fatally stabbed a 16-year-old Afghan refugee with a machete and Rambo knife have been jailed for life.
Vanushan Balakrishnan and Ilyas Suleiman, both 18, attacked Rishmeet Singh in the mistaken belief he was a member of a rival gang.
They chased him through a park in Southall, West London, on a November evening in 2021 and attacked him with blades bought online
Balakrishnan had previously been caught by police with a Rambo knife 11 months earlier.
The victim was described as “a good person who would not hurt a fly”.
The college student and aspiring police officer had sought asylum in the UK two years earlier with his mother and grandmother after his father was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Balakrishnan and Suleiman, from Hillingdon, West London, were found guilty of Rishmeet’s murder following a trial in March.
In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey yesterday, Judge Sarah Munro KC gave Suleiman a minimum term of 21 years and Balakrishnan at least 24.
Rishmeet’s mother Gulinder, speaking outside court with the help of a translator, said: “I will never recover from this evil act.
“I have lost my husband and now I have lost my only child. Justice is finally served for Rishmeet but their sentence will never be enough for me.
“They have taken my whole life away from me.”
Mother's anger at Tories
A mum whose son was killed in a machete attack said the Tories’ failures mean they have “blood on their hands”.
Heartbroken Kelly Brown, 47, believes the huge rise in the use of deadly blades shows vows to ban them were just empty promises.
Her son, Rhamero West, 16, was stabbed to death in Old Trafford, Manchester, in September 2021. Two men and Marquis Richards, then 17, were found guilty of murder and jailed.
Kelly, below, now campaigns against knife crime after setting up Mero’s World – a foundation in her son’s memory. Her charity has opened a youth centre and secured life-saving bleed kits across the city.
She said: “The Government has blood on its hands. How many more murders do they need before they act and ban these machetes and knives?
“I knew they wouldn’t do anything, they’re trying to look good but are dragging their feet. It’s empty promises and false hope.”
