3D printed knives smuggled into Dutch court

One girl successfully carried two knives past the building's scanner

Students have smuggled a 3D printed knife into the International Court of Justice at the Hague (FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

3D printers have revolutionised design, enabling us to quickly put up houses and create cheap prosthetic limbs. But they have also made weapons easier to manufacture than ever before.

To explore the dangers behind the new technology, a group of seven first year students at the Avans University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands tried to smuggle plastic knives into the a Dutch courtroom.

Their test was so successful that student Philine van Bilsen managed to sneak two knives into the Paleis van Justitie (Palace of Justice) in Den Bosch – one concealed within her clothing, and the other in her make up bag.

"We of course asked for approval by the court prior to attempting to bring these weapons in because we didn't want to do anything sneaky," she told 3DPrint.com, adding the experience was still "exciting".

She said that the group realised how easy it is to "effortlessly smuggle a weapon" into the court.

Further tests performed by the group showed that while the knives were useless for chopping fruit and vegetables, they could easily stab through honey dew melons.

However, court spokeswoman Ilse Westenenk stressed that its staff are trained to locate 3D weapons in usual cases, but admitted that its scanners are not powerful enough to detect the weapons. He added that the institution maintains a balance between security and transparency.

In recent months, 3D printers have proven their worth by helping surgeons reconstruct a toddler’s face, and enabling doctors to create cheap and effective prosthetic arms.

In March, the technology was even used to help a tortoise which was suffering from an agonising disease that causes its shell to wear away, after vets printed a shell protector for the creature.

This article previously stated that the knives were smuggled into the International Court of Justice's Peace Palace in the Hague. It has been brought to our attention that this was not correct. We are happy to make this correction.