Amid the uptick in knife crimes in the UK, actor Idris Elba has come up with a solution that has divided the public. The British actor said the government must consider “innovative” prevention methods, including blunting or banning knives. Mr Elba has spent the last year developing a documentary about solutions to knife crime during which he met families of the victims, police officers and the perpetrators.

“The truth is that kitchen knives are perhaps 25 per cent of the knives used in most of the terrible crimes. That’s one of the stats in the film. And those kitchen knives are usually a domestic situation. So kitchen knives…of course, it’s very difficult. They’re a domestic knife,” said Mr Elba.

“I do think there is areas of innovation that we can do with kitchen knives. I hate to say it. Not all kitchen knives need to have a point on them. That sounds like a crazy thing to say, but actually, it would reduce- you know, you can still cut your food without the point on your knife, which is an innovative way to sort of look at it,” he said. “In a country in crisis, I’m sorry, but yeah, let’s look at that.”

The Thor star also called out social media platforms and said they should take responsibility for their actions.

“When it comes to big tech, there needs to be accountability within their own policies, and their policies need to be educated and driven by what society deems is right or wrong,” he argued.

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Social media reacts

Social media users did not take kindly to Mr Elba’s suggestion with many pointing out that the weapon did not stop an accused from going on slicing sprees.

“Next time he does an action movie, I want him to use a Nerf gun instead of a realistic, looking one,” said one user, while another added: “Maybe all cutlery should be banned and everyone issued with their own spork?”

A third commented: “I don’t think that will solve the problem, sir.”

I don’t think that will solve the problem, sir.

— Dunkie (@DunkieX) January 31, 2025

Knife crime

The knife crime crisis in the UK came into the spotlight yet again after Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to 52 years in prison after he stabbed three young girls to death and attempted the murder of eight other children and two adults in July last year.

The Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called knife crime a “national crisis”. His administration has pledged to halve knife crime in the next decade. A ban on some knives and machetes came into force in September last year but the spate of stabbings has not stopped.

London:

London police said they had arrested a teenager after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death on her way to school on Wednesday, stoking fresh concern about the scale of knife crime in the UK.

Emergency services including an air ambulance were called to the scene in Croydon, south London, at around 8.30 am (0730 GMT) following reports of a stabbing.

Paramedics battled to save the girl but she was pronounced dead at the scene 50 minutes later, police said, adding that a 17-year-old boy was later arrested.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “heartbroken” by the fatal incident and pledged to “continue working day and night to end the scourge of knife crime in our city”.  

According to official figures, 99 people under the age of 25 were killed in England and Wales with a knife or sharp object in the year to March 2023. Of those 13 were under the age of 16.

The deaths were among 50,000 stabbing incidents in the year to March 2023, a five percent increase on the previous year and a 75 percent increase on a decade ago, the figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. 

Police said the suspect in custody was being questioned by detectives.

“Our immediate thoughts are with this young girl’s family who are facing the most tragic of news. Our officers are with the girl’s family to support them,” said Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain of the Metropolitan Police.

Victor Azare, a 50-year-old security guard on his way home after a night shift, said he and others chased a boy in a school blazer after seeing him stab the girl in the neck with a knife that was “black, thin, and about a foot (30 centimeters) long”.

“We tried to catch him and a lot of people tried to save the girl. I was so shocked, I was shaken. It’s somebody’s daughter,” he told British media.

Media reports said the girl had just got off a bus at the time and appeared to have been having an argument with a boy who then attacked her.

The girl, whose identity has not yet been released, was a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School, a private girls’ school in Croydon.

“We are deeply shocked by the senseless and tragic death of our much-loved and valued friend and pupil,” the school said in a statement.

“It will take some time for the Old Palace community to come to terms with this terrible news.

“Above all, we send our love and deepest sympathies to the girl’s family at this unimaginably distressing time,” it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)