New ninja sword legislation and surrender scheme in memory of Ronan Kanda!

CampaignsNews

Published:14:0030/06/2025

A new law comes into force next month, effectively outlawing ninja swords.

The law follows years of campaigning by the family of Ronan Kanda who was killed in Wolverhampton on 29 June 2022, in a case of mistaken identity, by two teenagers in possession of a ninja sword. The government announced earlier this year that the new legislation would be named in his memory.

Before any such new law is enforced, a national Surrender and Compensation Scheme will run to allow people to hand over their weapons without prosecution. The surrender scheme ahead of Ronan’s Law will run from 1 July to Thursday 31 July 2025.

The surrender scheme will allow people to hand in swords that fall within the new legislation at police stations, in return for an application for compensation.

Ronan’s Law outlaws the manufacture, supply, sale, possession and importation of ninja swords, from 1 August 2025.

As part of the surrender, 43 designated police stations across England and Wales are accepting swords, including nine in the West Midlands (see list below), while there are 28 Home Office funded surrender bins in partnership with Knife Bin Locations – Word 4 Weapons, including two new sites in Wolverhampton and Coventry, and a mobile surrender van will be travelling around the West Midlands on 1 and 2 July, thanks to Faron Alex Paul (@faz.amnesty) • Instagram photos and videos

If you wish to hand over a weapon to FazAmnesty instead of visiting a weapon surrender bin or police station, you can see times and locations here: Extended knife surrender arrangements 2025 (accessible) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A brief overview of the scheme:

• Lawful owners of these weapons can submit a claim for compensation as they surrender their weapon.
• The standard compensation amount for each surrendered weapon will be £5, though applicants will be able to claim a higher value if they have satisfactory evidence.
• No compensation will be payable unless the individual is the lawful owner or can show that they owned or had a contract to acquire the weapon on or before the cut-off date of 27 March 2025. Individuals will need to provide acceptable proof such as a purchase receipt or other form of evidence to prove ownership before this date.
• Any other items that are surrendered, during this period, which are not ninja sword(s) may be retained and disposed of by forces, but the owners will not be able to claim compensation.
Detail of ninja swords eligible for the compensation scheme are detailed as:
• a blade whose length is at least 14 inches, but no more than 24 inches,
• a primary straight cutting edge,
• a secondary straight cutting edge,
• a blunt spine, and either a tanto style point or a reversed tanto style point.