Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Thursday, 22nd August 2024, at 12:00hrs
Byron Highton has been campaigning against knife crime ever since his brother Jon-Jo was murdered 10 years ago
A ban on zombie knives and machetes are set to come into force next month with a month long surrender campaign and compensation being offered to people who bin the knife.
A month-long surrender and compensation scheme is going live next week (Monday 26 August), ahead of a new law making it illegal to own certain styles of zombie knives and machetes.
“It will be illegal to own zombie knives from Tuesday 24th September”
From Tuesday 24th September 2024, it will be illegal to own certain styles of zombie knives and machetes.
Under the new measures, it will be illegal to possess, sell or manufacture, or transport these zombie-style knives and machetes.
Ahead of the law change, a month-long national surrender and compensation scheme has been introduced by the government, allowing legal owners of zombie-style knives and machetes to surrender them to the police and claim compensation if they wish.
Police forces across England and Wales, are participating in the scheme, which runs from 26 August until 23 September 2024.
Anyone surrendering knives that meet the criteria will be eligible for compensation, under the government scheme. Detailed guidance on the kinds of weapons that will become illegal and eligible for surrender and compensation can be found here 👉 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compensation-scheme-for-zombie-knives-and-machetes
CNMR NEWS spoke Exclusively to Byron Highton, who runs the JJeffect CIC a charity set up in memory of his brother Jon-Jo Highton who sadly lost his life at the age of 18 as a result of knife crime in Preston 10 years ago on Friday.
I’m not against anything that takes knives off the streets
Asked what his thoughts are on the new government laws coming into force, Byron said, “I’m not totally against anything that takes knives off the streets, obviously that’s common sense but, it’s just a big waste of time, it literally to me, feels like just a way of making the public think that they’re doing something.
Byron went on to say, “Banning one specific knife isn’t going to solve the problem, for example, I’ve taken 2,500 off the streets, I work with hundreds of people who have taken thousands of knives off the streets and very rarely do you just get a knife bin full of zombie swords, it’s kitchen knives, small knives, shanks, alsorts of knives, the reason this is, is because its not zombie swords creating the knife crime problem“.
“Brainwashing of clothing brands and music industry to blame”
“It’s the brain washing power of clothing brands and the music industry, and they’ll never go after them.”
“It’s exactly why all kids, and I travel the country, all kids that I teach and adults that are into carrying a knife or listening to that type of music all act the same , walk the same, talk the same, wear the same clothing, use the same slang words, and it’s all in the music that their listening to.”
“You meet kids who are stabbing each other up because of postcodes, which was generated through beef in music, and what the problem is now, that’s spread across the country, you’ve got kids who live that lifestyle even though they don’t make music and the government get a couple of celebrities involved, you know, and it’s kind of offensive to be fair, because what about all us lot who have been slaving away travelling the country, and doing talk after talk, taking knives off the streets without no help, and yet they bring celebrities in and the government listen.”
CNMR NEWS asked what message would you give to people who carry these knives or any knives, Byron went onto to say,
“People need to understand and one of the best sayings I ever had said to me many many years ago is that everyone wants to play gangster until their watching their own blood leaving their body.”
“I’m not a big believer in heaven, so to speak, but I hope that there is something”
“They need to understand that when they are dying, we all hope that there is a heaven. I’m not a big believer in heaven, so to speak, but I hope that there is something, the scary thing is what if there isn’t anything and because of gang culture, because of street provardo, because of showing off, because of music, why on earth would you trade the one thing that we know is 100% certain that we are living right now in the moment, why would you trade that for dying and the possibility of nothing.”
“Why would you trade anything for never seeing your mum again, your brother, your sister again, your family again, and never having kids.”
“Living that lifestyle will be the worst thing you’ve ever done”
“You need to understand that it’s all well and good thinking it will never happen to me but if you live that lifestyle, go down that path and it does happen to you, it will be literally the worse thing you’ve ever done with you’re life because it will be over.”
“It’s been 10 years and it still affects us like it was yesterday”
We went on to ask what impact knife crime has on families left behind, and Byron said,
“Once a person’s dies, for example my brother, his pain ended, but yet I’ve still got chronic PTSD, I have to take medication twice a day, my mum still talks about the most horrendous things you can ever imagine, left her son behind you know, it’s 10 years tomorrow since he died and we still go through the same affects as if it happened yesterday. The only difference is that it’s become so normal now that it’s just normal to us.”
We end with thanking Byron for giving us his time. It goes without saying that Byron is very passionate about what he does, and we wish him all the very best in his continued progress in travelling the country, telling his story, in the hope that it changes the direction people choose to go in with life, and helping to prevent other families going through the same loss and trauma has his own through his educational sessions.
To find out more about the work Byron does with the JJeffect CIC you can visit their website here 👉 https://thejjeffect.org/
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