Knife wholesaler whose weapons have been used in several killings surrenders more than 35,000 zombie blades - netting the firm £350,000 in taxpayers cash
A knife wholesaler whose products have been used in several killings has surrendered more than 35,000 zombie blades - netting them £350,000 in taxpayers cash.
A knife wholesaler whose products have been used in several killings has surrendered more than 35,000 zombie blades - netting them £350,000 in taxpayers cash.
The terrifying blades, which boast chilling names including First Blood, Fantasy Hunting Knife and Predator, can be more than 18in long – and have become the weapon of choice for gang murders and stabbings.
Sporting Wholesale Limited, which is based in a warehouse in affluent Harpenden in Hertfordshire, will receive £10 in compensation for every zombie knife it hands in to police.
The company imported knives in bulk and sold them on to retailers. It also owns knife brand Anglo Arms, which bosses admitted in 2021 had gained a reputation with gangs.
Sporting Wholesale is run by Eddy Eliaz, a keen angler who also sells fishing tackle.
Sporting Wholesale Limited, which is based in a warehouse in affluent Harpenden in Hertfordshire, will receive £10 in compensation for every zombie knife it hands in to police
Sporting Wholesale is run by Eddy Eliaz, a keen angler who also sells fishing tackle
His younger brother, former Young Apprentice candidate Adam Eliaz, is the director of DNA Leisure, which is based on the same industrial estate and also surrendered 1,542 knives
Some of the blades sold under the brand Anglo Arms had terrifying names, like Blueline Machete
His younger brother, former Young Apprentice candidate Adam Eliaz, is the director of DNA Leisure, which is based on the same industrial estate and also surrendered 1,542 knives.
Both are lucrative businesses, with Sporting Wholesale paying a £750,000 dividend to shareholders in 2022.
Superintendent Alex House, who leads on knife crime for Bedfordshire Police, described the haul as horrific.
If you look at the design... the purpose is to kill and maim, he told the BBC. Theres no other practical use for them.
Mr House said the weapons would be shredded and the metal inside them recycle, adding that the move would absolutely save lives.
The fact that weapons sold by Sporting Wholesale Limited and DNA Leisure have been used in knife crime has been obvious for years, with more than 30 Anglo Arms branded blades seized in one month in 2019 alone.
Knives and swords bought from DNA Leisure were used to kill Ronan Kanda, 16, in Wolverhampton in June 2022; Rahaan Amin, 16, in Newham, east London in July 2023; and Omar Khan, 39 in Luton in September 2023.
Earlier this year, the mother of Ronan Kanda spoke out against the business after it told shoppers to buy brightly coloured ninja swords, double-headed axes and machetes while you can! on a last chance section of its website.
Pooja Kanda said she was disgusted at Adam Eliaz, who she claimed was making money from the blood of others.
Adam, who previously told a YouTube channel Lord Sugar called him too much of a nice guy, so Ive kind of changed that now, has long insisted he has done nothing wrong in selling what he calls collectables and tools.
Both DNA Leisure and Sporting Wholesale announced in June that they would stop selling knives after exhausting their current stock.
A post on Sporting Wholesales site said after supplying the trade with cutlery and archery products for over 20 years it was saddened to say that Sporting Wholesale Ltd are now ceasing the sale of these items.
It said one last shipment was due to be delivered but no new orders will be placed.
Ronan Kanda, a 16-year-old from Wolverhampton, was murdered with a blade bought by DNA Leisure in June 2022
Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill, both 17, were involved in a brutal attack on Ronan from behind as he walked to a friends house to buy a PlayStation controller
The sword used in his murder after being seized by police
Rahaan Amin, 16, was tabbed to death in Newham, east London in July 2023 with a red Ninja-style sword bought from DNA Leisure
A picture of a red Ninja sword similar to the one that was used to stab Rahaan (stock image)
This is all quite unfortunate, but the UK is now not a place where these items can be openly sold, it added.
The decision came after the DNA Leisure was named in press coverage of the sentencing of Omar Khans murderer Rayis Nibeel, who in 2023 bought 79 knives and machetes from DNA Leisure despite being only 16.
Nibeel used a relatives ID to buy the weapons online in 13 different transactions, with the company saying he had committed fraud and insisting an age-verified courier had made the deliveries.
An Anglo Arms machete was used to kill 14-year-old Gordon Gault in Newcastle in November 202.
Two teenagers were jailed for manslaughter including Lawson Natty, a Belgian national who was set to be set free under Labours early release scheme before being detained pending a decision whether to deport him.
The Anglo Arms catalogue previously boasted 19 pages of knives, swords and machetes – which were all legal for over-18s to buy.
They include a range of blades sold under the name of films that feature knives prominently, including Rambo, Predator, The Expendables and even Crocodile Dundee. Some of the knives are 20in long.
For as little as £9.99, the company sold a black lock knife decorated with a blood-spattered picture of comic-book villain the Joker.
Top-of-the-range items include an assassins sword with a 26in blade, costing £55.
Omar Khan with murdered with a knife sold by former Young Apprentice star Adam Eliazs company
Rayis Nibeel, 17, had amassed weapons worth £1,000, including swords, machetes and the knife used in the murder
One of the knives Nibeel bought from DNA Leisure
Until earlier in May, DNA Leisure listed clearance products that will soon be outlawed on this page of its website
It removed the page hours after MailOnline got in touch with questions about its business practices - removing the last chance items option from its green menu bar (above)
Adam Eliaz set up DNA Leisure in 2012. He appeared on Young Apprentice (pictured) and insists his company complies with its legal responsibilities
Until September 23 zombie knife owners can trade in their blades for money so long as they can show acceptable evidence of the value of the weapon, according to the Home Office.
If they are able to show evidence the knifes value, such as a receipt, they will get the full value for the zombie knife as they were purchased when the blades were legal to own.
Home Office guidance stipulated that the deadly weapons can be relinquished after September 23, however those who do risk being prosecuted.
A source from the department previously insisted it was usual practice to offer compensation for weapons when they were bought legally.
Those who return the knife with no proof of purchase will only be able to receive £10 per blade.
However to receive the compensation, they must surrender three knives or more, with the maximum payout being £30.
In the Kings Speech, Labour also pledged to ban ninja swords after the previous Tory government fell short of banning them entirely.
A ninja sword was the weapon used to kill 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in Hainault, London last May.
Labour has also promised to introduce strict sanctions on senior executives of online companies who illegally sell knives.
Gordon Gault, 14, died in hospital six days after he was attacked with a blade during an ongoing feud in Elswick, Newcastle, in November 2022
The Anglo Arms branded weapon that was used to kill the youngster
It has made a general pledge to halve serious violence over the next decade.
Official figures show that knife crime rose by 7 per cent in the year to December 2023.
In the year to March 2023, 82 per cent of teenage homicide victims were killed with a knife, compared to 73 per cent in the previous year.
