Attacks with machetes up sixfold in just seven years

Police have seen an explosion in the use of machetes by gangs – with offences rising almost sixfold in seven years, figures show.

The hunting blades are now being used to perpetrate an average of 22 crimes a day including robberies, rapes and murder.

Figures released under freedom of information from forces in england and Wales show machete-related offences have doubled in two years alone.

The blades were used in 1,364 crimes in November and December last year, more than double the 664 in the same period in 2019, and an almost six-fold increase on the 229 in those two months in 2014.

The true figure is likely to be even higher as the nation’s largest force Scotland Yard did not provide statistics.

critics say machetes have little legitimate use in the UK, but they are not on a list of banned blades such as butterfly knives.

it comes after Britain’s police lead on knife crime, the Met’s Deputy Assistant commissioner Graham McNulty, warned last week of a perception among gangs that ‘bigger is better’.

The Home office said it is ‘determined to tackle the underlying causes of serious violence’.