Knife wholesaler surrenders 35,000 zombie blades

A knife wholesaler whose products have been used in several killings has surrendered more than 35,000 zombie blades - netting them £350,000 in taxpayers' cash. 

The terrifying blades, which boast chilling names including First Blood, Fantasy Hunting Knife and Predator, can be more than 18in long – and have become the  weapon of choice for gang murders and stabbings.

Sporting Wholesale Limited, which is based in a warehouse in affluent Harpenden in Hertfordshire, will receive £10 in compensation for every zombie knife it hands in to police. 

The company imported knives in bulk and sold them on to retailers. It also owns knife brand Anglo Arms, which bosses admitted in 2021 had gained a 'reputation' with gangs. 

Sporting Wholesale is run by Eddy Eliaz, a keen angler who also sells fishing tackle. His younger brother, former Young Apprentice candidate Adam Eliaz, is the director of DNA Leisure, which is based on the same industrial estate and also surrendered 1,542 knives.

Both are lucrative businesses, with Sporting Wholesale paying a £750,000 dividend to shareholders in 2022.

Superintendent Alex House, who leads on knife crime for Bedfordshire Police, described the size of the haul from the company as 'horrific'. 

What are zombie knives? 

Named after the knives often used by characters in zombie films, so-called zombie knives have a long, menacing blade that can span up to 25 inches.

They are described by the government as a blade with 'a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence'.

The first series of such knives was released by American company Ka-Bar in 2011, who promoted the weapon with the quip 'the need for knives capable of killing a zombie when firearms aren't available'.

Despite being designed for collectors and survivalists, their appearance has led to them being increasingly used by criminals and by criminal gangs. They may also be customised with gory or intimidating words and imagery.

'If you look at the design... the purpose is to kill and maim,' he told the BBC. 'There's no other practical use for them.'

Mr House said the weapons would be shredded and the metal inside them recycle, adding that the move would 'absolutely save lives'. 

The fact that weapons sold by Sporting Wholesale Limited and DNA Leisure have been used in knife crime has been obvious for years, with more than 30 Anglo Arms branded blades seized in one month in 2019 alone. 

Knives and swords bought from DNA Leisure were used to kill Ronan Kanda, 16, in Wolverhampton in June 2022; Rahaan Amin, 16, in Newham, east London in July 2023; and Omar Khan, 39 in Luton in September 2023. 

Earlier this year, the mother of Ronan Kanda spoke out against the business after it told shoppers to buy  brightly coloured ninja swords, double-headed axes and machetes 'while you can!' on a 'last chance' section of its website. 

Pooja Kanda said she was 'disgusted' at Adam Eliaz, who she claimed was 'making money from the blood of others'.

Adam, who previously told a YouTube channel Lord Sugar called him 'too much of a nice guy, so I've kind of changed that now', has long insisted he has done nothing wrong in selling what he calls 'collectables and tools'. 

Both DNA Leisure and Sporting Wholesale announced in June that they would stop selling knives after exhausting their current stock. 

A post on Sporting Wholesale's site said 'after supplying the trade with cutlery and archery products for over 20 years' it was 'saddened to say that Sporting Wholesale Ltd are now ceasing the sale of these items'.

It said one last shipment was due to be delivered 'but no new orders will be placed'.

'This is all quite unfortunate, but the UK is now not a place where these items can be openly sold,' it added.

The decision came after the DNA Leisure was named in press coverage of the sentencing of Omar Khan's murderer Rayis Nibeel, who in 2023 bought 79 knives and machetes from DNA Leisure despite being only 16. 

Nibeel used a relative's ID to buy the weapons online in 13 different transactions, with the company saying he had committed 'fraud' and insisting an 'age-verified courier' had made the deliveries.

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An Anglo Arms machete was used to kill 14-year-old Gordon Gault in Newcastle in November 202. 

Two teenagers were jailed for manslaughter including Lawson Natty, a Belgian national who was set to be set free under Labour's early release scheme before being detained pending a decision whether to deport him. 

The Anglo Arms catalogue previously boasted 19 pages of knives, swords and machetes – which were all legal for over-18s to buy. 

They include a range of blades sold under the name of films that feature knives prominently, including Rambo, Predator, The Expendables and even Crocodile Dundee. Some of the knives are 20in long.

For as little as £9.99, the company sold a black lock knife decorated with a blood-spattered picture of comic-book villain the Joker.

Top-of-the-range items include an 'assassin's sword' with a 26in blade, costing £55.

Until September 23 zombie knife owners can trade in their blades for money so long as they can show 'acceptable evidence of the value of the weapon', according to the Home Office.

If they are able to show 'evidence' the knife's value, such as a receipt, they will get the full value for the zombie knife as they were purchased when the blades were legal to own.

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My son was killed by a Ninja sword as he walked home - but the weapon is STILL legal

Home Office guidance stipulated that the deadly weapons can be relinquished after September 23, however those who do risk being prosecuted.

A source from the department previously insisted it was usual practice to offer compensation for weapons when they were bought legally.

Those who return the knife with no proof of purchase will only be able to receive £10 per blade.

However to receive the compensation, they must surrender three knives or more, with the maximum payout being £30.

In the King's Speech, Labour also pledged to ban ninja swords after the previous Tory government fell short of banning them entirely.

A ninja sword was the weapon used to kill 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in Hainault, London last May.

Labour has also promised to introduce 'strict sanctions' on senior executives of online companies who illegally sell knives.

It has made a general pledge to halve serious violence over the next decade.

Official figures show that knife crime rose by 7 per cent in the year to December 2023.

In the year to March 2023, 82 per cent of teenage homicide victims were killed with a knife, compared to 73 per cent in the previous year.