PC gone mad

[Shultzy]

Seems Swiss army knives can't be carried any more and I wonder how I'm going to fair if I take my chisels and stanley knife for a ride?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... cnics.html

 

[AndyT]

You've got a point. Any PC arresting that fella in those circumstances would seem to have gone mad, or had some sort of out of proportion desire to make a point where there was none to be made.

 

[Mr T]

Hi

I my honest opinion I think you should treat anything you read in the Daily Mail with complete scepticism. It is a rag with it's own agenda which it pedals at all opportunities. The Daily Express on the other hand, I believe everything they print on principal!

Chris

 

[wizer]

Try rebooting..

 

[Mike.C]

Like our lads in Afghanistan and Iraq you have got to respect the Police for the dangerous and thankless job they do. But every now and again utter stupidity raises it's ugly head and a PC Plod joins the force, who is either as thick as two short planks, or was bullied at school and now wants to get his own back.

IMHO this officer thought that he had a cut and dried case of drink driving, but when he realised that this was not the case, he nicked him for anything he could. I mean what was he doing searching the car anyway?

For a man who had never been in trouble with the Police, a simple warning would have done. Instead now he has a criminal record, and the £40 fine is a pittance to big increase's in insurance premiums he is going to have to pay not only for his car but his house too, all because this over zealous silly person took him to court.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Mike.C]

Hi

I my honest opinion I think you should treat anything you read in the Daily Mail with complete scepticism. It is a rag with it's own agenda which it pedals at all opportunities. The Daily Express on the other hand, I believe everything they print on principal!

Chris

Chris, it is being reported in all the newspapers, on sky news, the BBC and ITV
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... n-car.html

Cheers

Mike

 

[DaveH]

I hate to think what the police would think if they looked in the back of my van. Most of time i have stanleys, blades, saws, large scraper blades etc. and numerous other tools which could be used as dangerous weapons in the wrong hands.

 

[Mr T]

Hi Mike

This might be the "exception that proves the rule", I am happy to be corrected. But I feel that the right wing press like to run with political correctness gone mad stories like this and pick up on anything that can be slanted in that way by ignoring certain elements of the story. I have an inate distrust of all newspapers, which can make life difficult!

Regarding the over zealous police officer, isn't it the Crown Prosecution Service that decides if someone should be prosecuted, not the arresting officer?

Chris

 

[Tom K]

He appears to have made the mistake of entering a guilty plea. This was discussed last year and the consencus was that it is perfectly legal to carry a non locking penknife provided it isn't longer than 3" (I think).

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/my-n ... ight=swiss army knife

 

[big soft moose]

He appears to have made the mistake of entering a guilty plea. This was discussed last year and the consencus was that it is perfectly legal to carry a non locking penknife provided it isn't longer than 3½" (I think).

i thought it was 2.5" but yes you are right - if he'd pleaded not guilty he probably would have got off - bad representation i guess.

with the issue of longer blades its about having a good reason to have them - my truck frequently has billhooks and axes and all sorts on board, but then we do conservation tasks - having one in the car coming away from a pub would be less easily justified

 

[Tom K]

I just edited my post to say 3" after reading the older post. I am panicky coz I have a Swiss Army knife in my pocket :lol:

 

[big soft moose]

I just edited my post to say 3" after reading the older post. I am panicky coz I have a Swiss Army knife in my pocket :lol:

it does depend very much on the mood of the cop who stops you and what you appear to be doing - I recently popped out of our 'shop at work to go to the shops for some glue forgetting that i had a mora utility knife on my belt/ with the sheaf tucked into my back pocket - about 5 inches of fixed blade razor sharp steel

walking down the high street in wantage with that on full display i naturally enough got stopped by a PCSO, but all that happened was he asked me why i was carrying - and i was like "**** I forgot" and explained what i was doing and that i'd forgotten it was there , and he just told me to be more careful in future and let me go - he didnt even confiscate it. To be fair it probably helped that i was in uniform with a ID card clipped to my top pocket.

 

[Shultzy]

In the Express it stated "he was legally advised to plead guilty". This may have been to avoid a greater penalty, as he actually had the knife in his possession.

 

[big soft moose]

In the Express it stated "he was legally advised to plead guilty". This may have been to avoid a greater penalty, as he actually had the knife in his possession.

true but if the blade non locking and less than three inches (which most swiss army knives are) and he wasnt doing anything stupid with it then he wasnt breaking the law by having it in his possesion

so if he was advised to plead guilty it may have been bad advice, and if he hadnt entered a guilty plea he might have been acquited.

 

[Max Power]

Just one small example of the gradual but huge erosion of civil libities that we've suffered since phoney tony came to power

 

[big soft moose]

Just one small example of the gradual but huge erosion of civil libities that we've suffered since phoney tony came to power

although i'm fairly sure it was the previous tory government who altered the knife laws.

civil liberties have been being erroded/altered pretty much for ever - all the way back to the romans when it was not only legal but required to go armed with a dirty great sword.

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Mike

This might be the "exception that proves the rule", I am happy to be corrected. But I feel that the right wing press like to run with political correctness gone mad stories like this and pick up on anything that can be slanted in that way by ignoring certain elements of the story. I have an inate distrust of all newspapers, which can make life difficult!

Regarding the over zealous police officer, isn't it the Crown Prosecution Service that decides if someone should be prosecuted, not the arresting officer?

Chris

Hi Chris, yes I can hear my old dad now saying "Don't believe all that you read in the newspapers", and like him I do not automatically take it for granted that they are correct, but after also seeing it on the news, I tend to believe that "A" did happen, but even then you cannot take all they say on face value.

As for the CPS yes I believe that they have the final say, but if the arresting officer puts up a strong enough case (especially with so many knife crimes lately) I think that they will take notice of him.

Cheers

Mike

 

[paulm]

Some of the larger swiss army knives have a blade with the cutting edge longer than 3" and the blades lock in the open position.

The legal test for any locking or fixed blade knife, regardless of blade length, is whether you have "good reason" for having it with you at that particular time (you need no reason to carry a non-locking knife with cutting edge less than 3", you cannot be prosecuted for those unless actually using as an offensive weapon).

Having a locker with you "just in case" is unlikely to be sufficient, he would need to have actually been on a picnic at that time or be directly in transit to'from, or some similar circumstance where having the knife with him at the time could directly be justified eg fishing etc.

Don't know that it was one of these types but could well be, otherwise the prosecution would have failed and he could have pleaded not guilty.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Richard T]

It's political correctness gone learning difficulties.

 

[Jake]

true but if the blade non locking and less than three inches (which most swiss army knives are) and he wasnt doing anything stupid with it then he wasnt breaking the law by having it in his possesion

It looks like it was one of these - I think the 'swiss army knife' tag is typical DM spin. They seem to both lock, and be over 3". With the aggressive weapon styling, I'm not entirely surprised at the arrest, right or wrong as it may be.

http://www.knivesplus.com/buckwhittakerknives.html