KNIFE crime laws will be beefed up this week after ministers discovered they do not protect people in their own home.

Thugs who use an offensive weapon to threaten people on private property are, astonishingly, immune from prosecution.

The wording of the law as it stands says it is only an offence to do so in a public place, such as on the street.

It means that brutal yobs who terrorise family members under their own roof – or even inside a school - with a blade or acid are not acting unlawfully.

But the loophole will be closed under new laws going before MPs this week – in another victory for The Sun on Sunday’s Beat the Blades campaign.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid ordered the law to be tightened before the Offensive Weapons Bill comes back before MPs tomorrow.

The change will means threatening a partner with a knife during a domestic row will carry a sentence of a fine or up to four years in jail.

The gap in the law was spotted by Tory MP Philip Davies as the Bill made its passage through Parliament.

He tabled an amendment to cover use in private places, and won the support of several MPs.

Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins has now amended the government’s legislation to make it an offence to threaten with a knife in both public and private places.

Mr Davies told The Sun on Sunday: “It’s a victory for common sense and means the anomaly will no longer exist.

“The general public want us to get tough on knife crime and the action that has been taken will send a clear message that the use of weapons will not be tolerated at any level in any place.”