Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

A new way to dispose of knives and other items without prosecution by us is being piloted in some areas of the county as a weapons amnesty takes place next week.

As well as knives, people can surrender items such as knuckledusters, extendable batons, curved swords and zombie weapons that have been made illegal to own.
The amnesty will not cover guns.

The week-long initiative starts on Monday (19 May) with amnesty bins at Thorpe Wood Police Station in Peterborough and Parkside Police Station in Cambridge throughout.

An amnesty bin will also be available at Cambourne Police Station between 2pm and 6pm on Thursday (22 May) and at Sawston Police Station between 10am and 2pm on the same date.

This year people who want to dispose of knives or weapons, but who may struggle to get to an amnesty bin next week, can now arrange for officers to visit their home and collect them.

The idea is being piloted in some areas of Cambridgeshire including Peterborough, Fenland and East Cambridgeshire.

Anyone interested in doing so is asked to email [email protected] (for areas in Peterborough and Fenland) and [email protected] for areas in East Cambs. The email should contain their address and contact details.

They will then be contacted by an officer who will arrange collection. These mailboxes will only be active until the end of the amnesty on Sunday, 25 May.

Alongside this, officers will be visiting schools across the county, carrying out extra patrols in “hotspot” areas and targeting those believed to be carrying knives. The week will be supported by officers, Specials and police cadets.

The previous amnesty held in November saw 370 items handed in – a record number for Cambridgeshire.

In the past year, possession of weapons offences in Cambridgeshire increased by 31 per cent.

‘You will be safer in reality’

Superintendent Paul Rogerson said: “Regular amnesties continue to be part of our ongoing work to combat knife crime in the county and I am pleased we have a new option available to people this year.

“Although our statistics show possession of weapon offences have increased, this doesn’t necessarily mean knife crime has done the same. The rise could be due to any number of reasons, for example more pro-active work by officers to tackle the issue, more stop searches, or others having more confidence to report those who carry weapons to us.

“For example in that same timeframe, 215 extra stop searches were carried out in hot spot areas and 160 more knives were seized during those searches.

“It’s important we continue our other work in this area, such as speaking to young people at schools about the dangers of knife crime.

“Very few people carry knives in our county. However, if you suspect a friend or family member does, please speak to them about the amnesty and encourage them to do the right thing. By disposing of any weapons, they will be safer in reality, and this also removes the risk of them being prosecuted.”

The national Sceptre initiative is also part of Operation Guardian – the Constabulary’s ongoing strategy to combat knife crime in the county.

What is the law?

Where knives are concerned, it is illegal to:

– sell a knife of any kind to anyone under 18 years old

– carry a knife in public without good reason – unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less, eg a Swiss Army knife

– carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife

– use any knife in a threatening way (even a legal knife, such as a Swiss Army knife)

The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife is four years in prison and a fine of £5,000.
Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston said: “I encourage anyone who has a knife, or knows someone else who has one, to hand these into one of the amnesty bins available.

“Knife crime has a devastating impact on the lives of victims, their families and the wider community.
“While we do not see the same levels of violence as other parts of the country, it is essential we all play our part in educating our young people as to the dangers of carrying knives.”

Visit Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s website for more information on knife crime and to access a list of the banned items. 

Kind regards

Many of us are M&S customers, some have bank accounts and credit cards with the M&S name on it. M&S have sent e-mails out that customer details have been hacked – they claim passwords and payment details have not been compromised.

The reported phishing emails received by the National Cyber Security Centre’s SERS relate to a type of extortion referred to as ‘Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion’ (FMSE).

Reports suggests the phrasing of the email and subject lines can vary, but the theme remains consistent: the phishing email claims to have installed malware on the recipient’s computer and recorded them visiting adult websites. The sender will then coerce the email recipient to pay a ransom demand by threatening to release the videos. The ransom is usually demanded in a form of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.

In order to make these phishing attacks convincing, emails will often include genuine pieces of personal information relating to the victim, such as a password or home address. It is likely these would have been obtained from historic breaches of personal data.

Analysis shows that many people who received these emails also later reported becoming victims of online account hacking.

In 2024, a male victim in his thirties received numerous extortion emails that contained a password he used for one of his online accounts. The emails demanded a ransom of $500. Having correctly identified the emails as a scam, he deleted them. However, shortly afterwards he noticed that he was unable to login to one of his social media accounts. After some checking, he realised that one of his bank accounts and multiple social media accounts had been hacked and he was locked out of them.

What to do if you receive an email like this:

·  As with other phishing emails, do not to engage with the phisher, forward the email to [email protected], which is the NCSC’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS), and then delete it.

• If you are considering paying the Bitcoin ransom, you should be aware that doing so, you will likely become the target of more scams, as the phisher will know they have a ‘willing’ customer.
• The inclusion of genuine passwords or other personal information in phishing emails is a strong indication that you may have been affected by a historic data breach. You can use this service to check which of your online accounts were affected:
  https://haveibeenpwned.com
• If the phishing email includes a password you still use, then change it immediately. Advice on how to create suitable passwords and enable other factors of authentication is available here: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk/protect-yourself-from-fraud/protecting-against-online-fraud/improve-your-password-security/

If you have been a victim of extortion, or concerned that someone may be in possession of intimate images of you, you should report it to your local police force by calling 101. 

Find out how to protect yourself from fraud: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk

If you’ve lost money or provided financial information as a result of any phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-phishing or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.