The UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is considering calls made by Idris Elba to ban kitchen knives with pointed ends.
Cooper has that revealed that she is considering Elba’s call to ban kitchen knives with pointed ends ahead of a report into terror threat posed by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana
She commented on the actor’s suggestion as she prepared to publish the findings of a Home Office review into the handling of Southport killer by Prevent, the Government’s anti-extremism programme.
The Mail Online reports: The murderer was referred to the scheme three times, with officers receiving information about his interest in school shootings, the London Bridge attack, the IRA, MI5 and the Middle East.
But each time they concluded he just had an unconventional interest in world affairs for a child aged 13 and 14. The review, elements of which have already been leaked, will find that counterterrorism officers were wrong not to consider him a terror threat.
Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison last month for the murder of three girls when he attacked a Taylor Swift themed dance class using a kitchen knife he bought on Amazon.
Speaking ahead of the review’s publication this afternoon, Ms Cooper said she was considering a proposal from Idris Elba to require all kitchen knives to have rounded ends to make it harder for them to be used for stabbings.
‘We are looking at the point that Idris Elba has made… we will look at any issue that might make children safer,’ she told The Times Crime and Justice Commission.
‘This is an issue that Idris has raised. It’s also an issue [raised by] surgeons who have dealt with knife crime. Victims have also raised this as well in the past. So that’s why we are looking at it.’
Mr Elba revealed his proposal on kitchen knives ahead of the release of his documentary, Idris Elba: A Year Of Knife Crime.
The 52-year-old Luther star said that whilst banning the sale of zombie knives was a positive first step, he also believed ninja swords should be outlawed and suggested kitchen blades have their sharp point removed.
He told the BBC: ‘Not all kitchen knives need to have a point on them, that sounds like a crazy thing to say. But you can still cut your food without the point on your knife, which is an innovative way to look at it.’
The proposal may prove controversial among chefs, who use the pointed ends of kitchen knives for a variety of purposes, including filleting fish (if they are not using a dedicated filleting knife) and making precise cuts.