Dozens of knives in first UK hospital amnesty bin

Dozens of zombie knives, machetes and knuckledusters have been handed in to the UK's first hospital to introduce a knife amnesty.

St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, which introduced the measure after noticing a leap in knife crime victims in its emergency department, saw 87 weapons surrendered during the first six months of the scheme.

The hospital treated more than 500 people with injuries from knives and other sharp objects last year.

Sandra Campbell, chief executive of Words 4 Weapons, said: "These images may shock people but they are even more terrifying up close - and have the potential to end someone's life or cause serious damage if they were still on the streets."

Officials said they wanted to "keep weapons out of our hospitals" as they announced the initiative would be extended to other local hospitals.

Last year, almost double the number of people seen in 2022 were admitted for injuries caused by stab wounds.

Cleo Kenington, consultant in emergency general surgery and major trauma at St George's, said: "I've had to physically remove knives from patients on the operating table to stop them bleeding to death.

"It can take many teams of surgeons working on them, especially when the knife pierces multiple organs such as the heart and the guts.

"These patients are young, vulnerable and scared - they have their whole lives ahead of them and they often say 'I don't want to die'.

"I've seen more and more patients being admitted with stab wounds - once they arrive at St George's we provide them with the best possible care and most survive, but tragically many patients die before they can reach hospital as their injuries are so severe."

One patient, a man in his 20s, who chose to remain anonymous, described how he was stabbed with a 15-inch (38cm) "Rambo knife".

"I didn't even know I'd been stabbed at first," he said. "I felt a sharp pain, then it was hard to breathe and I could feel a wetness - that's when I looked down and saw the knife sticking out of me.

"I was losing blood and was trying to get away from there - people were standing around filming on their phones.

"Coming into hospital is a blur, I don't really remember it. I had an operation that saved my life, but it's not just the wounds that need to heal - I'm still trying to process what happened and deal with the trauma."

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