Zombie knives blamed as 16 becomes the most common age of stabbing victims

Sixteen-year-olds have become the most common victims of stabbings, the NHS violence tsar has said, as he warned about the use of zombie knives.

More needed to be done to restrict the sale of these “weapons of death”, said Martin Griffiths, a trauma surgeon.

The knives, which are often brightly coloured with long, serrated blades, were banned in the UK in 2016. The British Medical Association has called for “robust action” to halt the illegal sale of the deadly weapons.

Mr Griffiths said the knife injuries he saw most often were “worryingly” from zombie knives, and the age of victims was decreasing. He said: “The most common age of a person with a knife wound in our department is 16. The second most common is 15.”