Over 60 ninja swords handed into West Yorkshire Police during July amnesty
A ban on the weapons came into force at the start of the month
Last updated 7th Aug 2025
West Yorkshire Police say a total of 66 'ninja swords' were handed in to them last month, during a month-long amnesty aimed at taking the weapons off the streets.
A total of 81 blades of all types were handed in in July, ahead of the ninja sword ban coming into force on August 1.
Possession of a ninja sword can now result in a prison sentence of up to six months, potentially increasing to two years.
Chief Inspector James Kitchen of West Yorkshire Police, said: “We have been very pleased with the response from the public to the July amnesty and want others who own weapons that are now illegal to hand then in or ethically destroy them ASAP. "
"We also encourage the public to hand over or destroy weapons that are legally owned and no longer wish to possess, to support our efforts to remove weapons that have no other purpose but to harm.
“The ban on owning ninja swords was a very welcome change to the law which gives us a much better ability to limit the availability of these dangerous weapons.
“We have seen cases locally and nationally where these swords have been used to cause fear and injury, including 2022 murder of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, in Wolverhampton which prompted the national banning of these items.
“As a force, we of course support any measure which increases public safety and which can help us get dangerous weapons that can cause serious harm off our streets.”