Chilling images present array of knives on the market on Snapchat as Home Secretary vows crackdown

Chilling photos show an array of deadly knives brazenly on sale on social media.

The blades, advertised through Snapchat and Telegram, were sold at marked-up prices by a teenager running a business called Weapons R Us. A bombshell report into online knife sales found it is an example of “grey market” sellers secretly flogging blades to children.

It comes as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to shut “lethal loopholes” and clamp down on knife sales on social media. She told The Mirror it is “incredibly dangerous” as she announced tough new laws.

Weapons 4 Us, run by 18-year-old Kaif Sayed, was highlighted in a damning report by Commander Stephen Clayman, who leads national police efforts against knife crime. His review on online knife sales – which called for an array of measures to stop weapons falling into the wrong hands – said 15 such businesses had been identified, responsible for over 2,000 sales.

Ms Cooper told The Mirror: “What the Clayman review found is that there were people who were bulk buying knives and then selling them on through social media channels, distributing them to teenagers.

“It’s what Stephen Clayman calls the gray market, and it’s lethal. It is incredibly dangerous.” In another tragic case, the review states, 17-year-old Victor Lee was stabbed to death in 2023 by a teenager he had sold knives to.

Victor had used fake ID to buy weapons, which he then sold for a profit, primarily using Snapchat. He was stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest by 18-year-old Elijah Gokool-Mely, who pushed him into the Grand Union Canal in West London.

Mr Clayman wrote: “The case underscores the dangers associated with the online sale of weapons and the use of socialmedia platforms for such transactions.”

The Government has announced a string of measures to crack down on grey market sellers. A new specialist policing unit that will target weapons being sold on social media, with £1million of Government funding.

It will also create a new requirement for retailers to report bulk purchases of knives. Mr Clayman’s report said Sayed, who was arrested last year and handed a suspended prison sentence, used a vulnerable adult’s details to buy dozens of knives online, which he then sold on.

He used subtle messages on Snapchat and Telegram to direct people to message him, when sales would be arranged. Mr Clayman wrote: “In one transaction Sayed ordered 30 knives from the retailer, using details belonging to another.

“His sales offered collection from an area of London. Knives were marketed for approximately three times the retail price and all contact would have been made through the use of private messages.”

When police raided his home in February last year, a parcel arrived for Sayed containing 11 new knives. Mr Clayman wrote: “There were particular challenges for law enforcement in that the knives that were being sold were, in the main, legal to sell and possess in private making the majority of his activity legal.”

The police chief’s report said there are “serious flaws in the system” – particularly with age verification at point of sale and delivery. New measures, known as Ronan’s Law, will tighten up rules around knife sales.

It is named after Ronan Kanda, 16, who was stabbed to death with a ninja sword his killer had purchased online using his mum’s ID. He was able to pick up the package without being challenged before killing popular Ronan in a case of mistaken identity.

The Government has already outlawed weapons like the one that killed the teenager, and will bring in tough new sentences for online staff and executives who fail to carry out proper checks.

Ronan’s mum Pooja wrote in the report: “The systemic failures in regulating the sale and distribution of these items ultimately culminated in the senseless loss of my son, leaving a family devastated and a community in shock. I believe stricter regulation of these lethal weapons in our society will create necessary barriers and reduce the glamorisation of tools designed solely to kill or gravely injure.”

The Home Office has announced jail terms for those selling knives to under-18s will be ramped up from six months to two years. These can be applied to workers who process illegal sales as well as the chief executives of a company.

There will also be a new criminal offence of possessing an offensive weapon with intent for violence – carrying a jail term of up to four years in prison. The Home Office says it will explore setting up a registration system for businesses that sell knives online to ensure that only responsible sellers can do so.