A medieval flail was one of the terrifying items taken in by a man trying to get weapons off of London’s streets.
Ryan Biddiss, 28, runs an amnesty for people to hand over knives and other dangerous equipment.
The former youth worker shared photos of some of the weapons he has collected, which bizarrely include a flail.
This was an agricultural tool which was often modified to be used in battle during medieval times – usually by peasant armies.
Its main purpose was to get the damaging part of the weapon (the spiky balls) around an opponent pulling away or holding their shield up.
Footage shows Ryan wearing blue, plastic gloves to surrender the flail to an officer before being thanked for his help.
Ryan, has also received ‘zombie knives’, inspired by sci-fi films, double-handed ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle blades’ and full-on swords.
The Londoner said: ‘All the weapons I’ve collected are powerful and frightening. Some of the stuff is really shocking, and the weight of them is very scary.
‘Parents call me up after they’ve found weapons in kids’ play parks. Sometimes grandparents or parents who have found them hidden in kids’ bedrooms, sometimes it’s young people handing them in.
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‘People are scared, and people handing them in are frightened of repercussions. But I’m careful to protect them, because I want to encourage more people to hand weapons over.’
Ryan started his mission, called Protect Our Children, around two years ago, after feeling incredibly moved by his dad’s death and several brutal murders near his home in Woolwich, southeast London.
He said he would ‘never forget the awful day’ 25-year-old soldier Lee Rigby was mowed down and hacked to death near his barracks in the neighbourhood in 2013.
Ryan then decided he ‘needed to do something’ after he saw the mum of 15-year-old Tamim Ian Habimana, who was stabbed to death while on his way home from his school in 2021.
He said: ‘I meet families bereaved because of knife crime as part of my work promotion.
‘It’s really powerful when they hug you – you feel all that emotion and you know the work is extremely important.’
Ryan now works with the Metropolitan Police, handing over weapons to them, but he keeps all the details about who he is meeting, and the specifics of where, to himself.
Anyone who messages him about a weapon will be required to send a photo of it – so Ryan can plan how to keep safe at the hand-over, and how to carry it.
Ryan then tells police about the pick-up and informs them of the rough area so he has backup if needed.
Sometimes officers will collect the weapons from Ryan themselves, but other times he takes them to the nearest police station. He has to take the shortest route there.
Ryan estimates he has recovered more than 30 weapons from the streets so far, including three this month.
He said: ‘I really want to be a part of making London safer. It is potentially dangerous for me – it could go wrong.’
