1,300 weapons binned in West Midlands in a six-month amnesty
THIS chilling array of deadly weapons has been handed in to a single police force over just six months. More than 1,300 knives, machetes, swords, scythes, a gun and Nazi flick knife with swastika were left in 20 surrender bins around the West Midlands since March under the amnesty.
They were installed as violent crime soared after lockdown eased. Shocking pictures show a huge haul of weapons laid out next to one of the post-box style containers at a supermarket in Dudley.
The bins offer a place to dispose of weapons, without fear of being prosecuted and is part of a strategy to reduce gun and knife crime.
Previously, pistols, tasers, a sawn-off shotgun and a bayonet have been recovered from the containers in a region where knife crime has more than doubled since 2012.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: "Every weapon deposited is potentially saving a life. With this number collected in such a short period, clearly these bins are working."