Tough new laws to crack down on acid attacks, child abuse images and online sales of killer knives were unveiled by Amber Rudd today.
The Home Secretary responded to a spate of attacks by promising to make it illegal to carry acid in a public place without a good reason.
Stricter controls on sales will include two-year jail terms for people who illegally buy or sell powerful sulphuric acid, which has been used in the most horrific attacks. It will also become an offence to sell any acid to under-18s.
She also announced investment in internet technology that will seek and out and destroy vile images of children being abused, helping to close down the rapid spread of new images.
And she revealed plans to stamp down on the spread of knives via internet shops. Online sales to under-18s will be banned, and vendors obliged to seek proof of age.
Flick-knives and “zombie” knives that have no non-violent function will be banned from being kept at home, closing a loophole that permits people to retain the weapons, with a potential four-year jail penalty.
Ms Rudd’s triple announcement of public protection measures injected new life into the Conservative conference in Manchester.
She vowed to send “the strongest possible message” to gangs and criminals that they would be punished hard and to keep “on the front foot” against new types of offences that spring up.
A consultation on offensive weapons will be published in the autumn, giving the police greater powers to pursue offenders.
Sulphuric acid, one of the most powerful corrosive substances that can be purchased and which has caused life-changing injuries to victims of attacks, will be subject to extra restrictions.
It will become a reportable substance under the Poisons Act, which means anyone wanting to obtain it will need a licence and be subjected to checks.
Jail terms of two years will be available for judges to give vendors who fail to make checks, or illicit buyers.
Ms Rudd said: “Acid and knife attacks have an absolutely horrific impact on their victims.
“I am determined that we do all we can to prevent such attacks, and I want to send the strongest possible message that where people break the law in these areas, they will face tough penalties.”
The Home Secretary unveiled a £600,000 investment in technology designed to detect and remove indecent images from the web at an unprecedented rate.
Project Arachnid is a web “crawler” capable of processing the data filed for thousands of images every second, triggering alarms when a vile image is being copied repeatedly. It then tells technology companies so that they can intervene quickly.
“Spreading indecent images of children online is an absolutely abhorrent crime,” said Ms Rudd. She challenged internet giants to sign up to using the technology to clean up social media.
Ms Rudd demanded: “Our question to them is ‘if not, why not?’”
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