Zombie knives, daggers and stun guns being sold on Wish.com fuelling knife crime epidemic

KILLER weapons including zombie knives and machetes are readily available to customers including children on a popular online marketplace.

Banned weapons including Tasers, lasers and dart guns can be purchased from Wish.com, a California-based shopping app, a Sun Online investigation has found.

Manchester private schoolboy Yousef Makki, 17, was stabbed through the heart in March with a flick-knife costing £3 that had been imported from China by one of his friends, using Wish.com.

Wish.com lets individuals set up their own stores, showcasing items that can be bought by anyone with an account.

Last week Greater Manchester Police said they were seizing around 100 imported Chinese weapons a week, all bought via Wish.com.

Wish.com now said they were rooting out listings of illegal knives on their site.

However when we logged onto the website, it took just a few seconds to find an arsenal of items including stun guns, axes, zombie knives, batons and pepper spray.

Under UK law it is illegal to "bring into the UK, sell, hire, lend or give anyone" certain knives and other offensive weapons.

Patrick Green, from anti-knife charity The Ben Kinsella Trust, said: "They should be removed immediately. These deadly weapons are marketed to look like toys."

It comes as knife crime in Britain shows no sign of abating.

In London, three men were killed in separate attacks across the capital during another weekend of violence, taking the number of London homicides this year to at least 126.

Among the weapons being traded were a five-inch dagger listed as a "self defence" product that was avaliable in a range of colours for just £1; a bracelet which turns into a knife for a fiver; and a mini Samurai-sword for £3.

Visitors to the site are able to buy laser weapons that were advertised as being powerful enough to burn and light fires.

One was listed as being discounted from £107 to £25 and capable of delivering an 80 million-volt shock. The device was rated 4.8 out of five on the basis of 27 reviews. In comparison, police-issued Taser guns typically deliver a 50,000-volt shock.

Stun guns are viewed as firearms by courts which can impose prison sentences of up to ten years for anyone found to be in possession of one.

Another product on offer on Wish for use as a "concealed weapon" was a dart gun, which was supplied with six darts and was priced at just £14.

Also described as a "self-defence weapon" and suitable for hunting, it was rated at 4.5 stars based on 29 customer reviews.

Numerous deals were on offer for illegal "zombie" type knives and zombie axes.

Zombie-type knives are explicitly outlawed by legislation and anyone found to have imported such a weapon could end up with a four-year prison sentence.

Other blades included a carbon steel Samurai sword with a 39-inch blade, on offer for £77.

A sinister Rambo-type hunting knife with an 8.6-inch blade featuring serrated edges on two sides, with a five-star rating, was on offer for £29.

Another weapon available to purchase was a "survivor" machete with a 12.6-inch stainless steel blade, on offer for £36.

Most Wish sellers are independent and based overseas.

Wish takes around a 15 per cent cut from most orders on the site.

It notes in its terms of service that it is "not directly involved in the transaction between buyers and sellers".

Wish said it would be "investigating the store and will remove any products that aren't meeting our quality standards".

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