London knife crime: Terrifying Freddy Krueger-style glove dumped in amnesty bin

Police officers in west London were left open-mouthed when a Freddy Krueger-style bladed gauntlet was handed in by a member of the public during a knife amnesty. The metal glove – complete with four knives protruding from each finger – was dropped into a knife bin at Uxbridge police station.

It has a stark resemblance to the one used by fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger in the 1984 cult horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street.

West Drayton Police tweeted on Wednesday (27 September): "There are #knives and then there is this.

"Safely dropped off anonymously in the knife bin in #Uxbridge Police Station."

The weapon was among dozens of knives handed in to police as part of the amnesty last week.

The haul included long kitchen blades and ceremonial daggers.

It comes after another team of Met Police officers last week showed off an enormous knife that was dumped in an amnesty bin outside Hammersmith police station in west London.

The knife is so large it came with its own cover and rucksack to carry it.

Amnesty bins are part of the Met Police's Operation Sceptre, which was launched in the summer of 2015 to tackle knife crime on London's streets.

So far this year 13 teenagers have been fatally stabbed in London, with the number of young people caught carrying knives at an eight-year high.

Some 1,180 under-18s were cautioned or sentenced for carrying blades in the three months to June in Britain, according to Ministry of Justice statistics.

This is the highest quarterly tally for that age group since the July-to-September period in 2009.

In total, 5,237 knife possession offences were dealt with by the criminal justice system in the three months to the end of June – up 6% on the same period in 2016.