A flick knife was flashed at the monthly meeting of Stoke Newington Borough Council, the Gazette reported this week 60 years ago.

Alderman Samuel Fisher, leader of the borough council, brandished the knife which had been borrowed from officers at Scotland Yard to shock councillors into realising “just how deadly these weapons are”.

He was seeking unanimous support for a Parliamentary Private Member’s Bill to restrict the sale of the popular knife.

Demonstrating how the knife worked by opening up its five-inch blade, he told the meeting: “They have banned this sort of thing in America. Why not here?”

He then also brought out a gravity knife with a six-inch blade which sprang out with a downward flick of the wrist and “slight pressure” on a button.

And his demonstration worked.

“Alderman Fisher’s intention was to shock, and for my part I was appropriately shocked,” said Cllr Millie Miller.

“These knives are terrible things and sale of them to youngsters should be banned. I have heard all sorts of rubbish about butchers and so on having to use such knives. If that is the case, then surely the sale of butchers’ knives could be confined to butcher’s shops, and anyone who is not in the trade who went in to buy one would be looked at very closely.”

She was asked what she would do if she found a flick knife on her son.

“I am not likely to because a lot depends on a youngster’s interests and whether he goes in for flick knives or not,” she replied.

“A youngster with normal interests is more likely to be found carrying a scout’s knife for camping purposes. If I ever did find a flick knife on my son he would meet with my considerable disapproval and the knife would be quickly lost.”