My new Knife and the Law

[Mreagleeyes]

I have recently purchased the new replacement Swiss Army Knife for the troops. I'm a bit of a fan of the knives and obviously in my line of work find having one on me at all times to be very valuable.

I have a German Short-haired Pointer dog that gets to run free in forests and I always carry the knife when I walk him.
Meet Kaiser.

A few nights ago my girlfriend and I came across a suicide on my normal night walk. A horrible experience that I would not want to see again. He was most definitely dead but if he hadn't been and would have needed cutting down then I could have done.

So would I still be looking at going to prison for carrying a knife or would my requirements for it to be on me be valid?.
Any officers of the law on here?.

 

[katellwood]

you are allowed to carry a "folding pocket knife" with a blade 3" or less and the blade does not lock in the open position

(Sec 139 Criminal Justice Act 1988)

You could still be prosecuted under Sec 1 Prevention of crime act 1953 however your intent to use the knife as an offensive weapon will be required

hope this helps

 

[paulm]

Have a look here for what you need to know

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/for ... y.php?f=39

Cheers, Paul

 

[chippy1970]

A few nights ago my girlfriend and I came across a suicide on my normal night walk. A horrible experience that I would not want to see again. He was most definitely dead but if he hadn't been and would have needed cutting down then I could have done.

Sorry to hear that it must have been horrible.

I once worked for a young woman that had just lost her husband to suicide. He had hung himself from the loft hatch and all the time I was working there it was all I thought of everytime I looked at the loft hatch.

He didnt even leave a note so the poor girl will never know why he did it.

 

[Gary]

I have recently purchased the new replacement Swiss Army Knife for the troops. I'm a bit of a fan of the knives and obviously in my line of work find having one on me at all times to be very valuable.

I have a German Short-haired Pointer dog that gets to run free in forests and I always carry the knife when I walk him.


So would I still be looking at going to prison for carrying a knife or would my requirements for it to be on me be valid?.

What is your line of work?
Why do you need the knife?

Why do you need to carry a knife to walk the dog?

Are you saying it's a defence to carry a knife in case you find somenone hanging the woods?
What do you think a court would think of that reason?

Reasons for carrying a knife under the act.


(a) for use at work;

(b) for religious reasons; or

(c) as part of any national costume.

But

The fact that a defendant has forgotten that he has with him an article to which s 139 applies does not constitute a defence of good reason within s 139(4)(DPP v Gregson (1992) 157 JP 201).


You can carry

For a knife to be a folding pocket-knife within the meaning of this section, it must be readily and immediately foldable at all times, simply by the folding process. A lock-knife, which required a further process, namely activating a trigger mechanism to fold the blade back into the handle, was held not to be a folding pocket-knife (Harris v DPP [1993] 1 All ER 562); followed in R v Deegan [1998] Crim LR 562,[1998] 2 Cr App Rep 121. The section applies to articles which have a blade or are sharply pointed, falling into the same broad category as a knife or sharply pointed instrument

Common sense should be applied. I carry a folding pocket knife similar you yours. The reasons for this is it's used at work, attatched to the keys I use as work, which are in term attatched to my house keys. Hence why I would have it walking the dogs.

 

[Anonymous]

Your profile says your 'line of work' is Furniture Maker/Designer

Therefore, you don't 'need' to carry a knife.

Also, I don't understand 'purchased a swiss army knife for the troops'. Are you implying that you buying a pocket knife will somehow help our troops? I think I am missing something here

 

[RogerS]

You don't want to end up like this ex-soldier.

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty".

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year's imprisonment for handing in the weapon.

 

[Gary]

Roger

There has got to be more to the story than that. :shock:

 

[Smudger]

Have a look here

 

[Digit]

I carry a pocket knife at all times. Do I need one? Who's to decide? I use mine to open packets of biscuits, cakes etc, anything in fact that supermarkets have decided that you need a degree in safe cracking to get into, that includes cartons of milk and fruit juice with ring pulls that need muscles like Pop Eye to open.
I use it in the workshop to sharpen pencils, trim insulation from wires and as a marking knife.
Do I need one?
I think so.

Roy.

 

[hog&bodge]

I use to carry a little silver fruit penknife..but with
all the new laws about knifes It is not worth
the bother or the trouble..
I am with all the other members no need to carry a knife.
Keep it in your tool box or shed.

 

[RogerS]

Roger

There has got to be more to the story than that. :shock:

Here is a reference that goes into a bit more depth
http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/...nding-gun/article-1509082-detail/article.html

 

[woodbloke]

Also, I don't understand 'purchased a swiss army knife for the troops'.

The original Swiss Army Knife was made for the Swiss army and was issued to their troops...but then I suspect you knew that already :wink: - Rob

 

[Gary]

Roy

So long as your knife is folding and under 3" you can carry it. I would say you have a reasonable and honest excuse to have it.

I raised the earlier points to the OP in order to question his logic for carrying one.

 

[Gary]

Roger

This is certainly one of those occasions that many will feel is beyond belief.

I have only ever come across one such occasion when there were aggravating factors to an offence of possessing a shotgun other than those used in the commission of a crime. The weapon then was still in the possession of a shotgun certificate and section 1 firearm licence holder holder.
However once the barrel has been shortened you cannot possess it lawfully, only a gunsmith can be in lawful possession of such a shotgun if it is necessary for him to do so to repair a gun.

The interesting fact is he found the gun and kept it over night. Has he been convicted for the possession covering the period from when he found it until taking it to the police station?
If it were simply he found it, took it into his home address, then discovered what it was and at that point phoned the police. By the letter of the law he is still guilty, but may not be prosecuted as it would not be in the public interest.

I really do wonder and we will probably never know why he kept it over night. Would any members consider doing the same had they not been aware of this law?

 

[Digit]

To be completely blunt I would not have seen it! And I suspect that that will be that chap's view in future. Sounds like an own goal to me!

Roy.

 

[Smudger]

I wonder why he made an appointment to see the Inspector and the slapped it on the desk in front of him with no warning. The man also seems to have some previous, as you say there is a whole story here. But Jack of Kent's analysis seems sound to me. He should have called for the police to come and collect it, rather than carrying it through the streets.

 

[RogerS]

......

Would any members consider doing the same had they not been aware of this law?

That's the question. Not sure what I would have done in the same circumstances. Dial 999? Not really an emergency. If our local police station was still open then I reckon that I would probably have done the same as he did since it seems a logical enough action.

I think in this instance that the actions of the police smacks a little of settling scores, to be honest.

 

[cambournepete]

Meanwhile, back on topic...

I don't understand 'purchased a swiss army knife for the troops'. Are you implying that you buying a pocket knife will somehow help our troops? I think I am missing something here

Tony - the picture is of the "Official Swiss Army Soldier" knife.

I carry a Leatherman Micra on my keyring and sometimes a larger Leatherman. Do I need to, not really I guess, but they come in handy sometimes, particularly if I want to cut down the brambles that attack me in the local wood....

 

[paulm]

This particular Q&A thread covers all the key points on what you can and can't do in the first post

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/sho ... php?t=8336

Cheers, Paul