Stanley Folding Pocket Knife 0 10 598

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All decisions to charge must be taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and the Director’s Guidance on Charging 6 th Edition. This has 2 stages: Where a person uses an article offensively in a public place, the offensive use of the article is not conclusive of the question of whether he had it with him as an offensive weapon within section 1(1) PCA 1953. A person must knowingly have the item with them, with relevant considerations including the proximity between the person and the weapon, whether the weapon is immediately available to the person and the accessibility of the weapon. Having an article innocently will be converted into having the article guiltily if intent to use the article offensively is formed before the actual occasion to use violence has arisen. Once a person knowingly has an item with them, they continue to have it until they rid themselves of it. A person forgetting about an article does not negate them having it with them. Public place Section 1 of the Knives Act 1997 creates an offence of unlawful marketing of knives, which is committed if a person markets a knife in a way which-

Offences under both the 1953 legislation and the 1988 legislation come within “ Specified Either way Offences” for the purposes of issuing a simple caution – see "Simple cautions: guidance for police and prosecutors" Youths Section 47 of the 2019 legislation also introduced defences for a person charged with an offence under section 141(1) or (1A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in respect of any conduct of the person relating to a curved sword, namely: Manufacture, sale or hire, or offer for sale or hire, expose or have in their possession for the purpose of sale or hire, or lending or giving an offensive weapon to any other person – Section 141.A weapon not made for that purpose but adapted for it e.g. objects with a razor blade inserted or mounted into them or a deliberately broken bottle. Minimum sentences for 'second strike' offences of possession of knives or offensive weapons came into force on 17 July 2015. The OWA has extended this to cover possession of corrosive substances. Other charges may be more appropriate if the threat falls short of ‘serious physical harm’, for example common assault. Possible defences Possession of certain dangerous knives - Section 1A Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959- as inserted by section 44 of OWA. Where details of a defence are given in interview, a defence statement or in any other way, the investigating officer and the prosecutor should consider what reasonable lines of inquiry arise from this to establish whether or not the defence is likely to be established. Adverse inferences

Unauthorised possession of knives and other offensive weapons in prisons – section 40CA Prison Act 1952 as added by section 78 Serious Crime Act 2015. Publications Relating to Knives – section 2(1) Knives Act 1997. This offence is aimed at the publishers of advertisements rather than those who are involved in the sale and marketing of knives. Section 10 of the Act gives definitions for 'suitable for combat' and 'violent behaviour'. This will be a matter of fact for the court to determine but could include pictures or references to popular culture. Whether a retailer has signed up to either a local or national responsible retailer agreement, and any subsequent action taken as a result e.g. ongoing training, may be useful evidence in proving the presence or absence of due diligence. Underage test purchasing of knives The test for threatening with a weapon in a private place is higher than for threatening in a public place. The prosecution must prove that while A is in a private place, A unlawfully and intentionally threatens another person (“B”) with an article or substance as above, and A does so in such a way that there is an immediate risk of serious physical harm to B.

Further Reading

Depending on the offence, specific defences may be available to a person primarily being whether they can show that they had a good reason, reasonable excuse or lawful authority for having a knife with them. Other specific defences are included for some offences including but not limited to: for use at work, for religious reasons, for educational purposes or as part of a national costume. These defences are for the defendant to prove on the balance of probabilities, which means that merely providing an uncontradicted explanation is not necessarily sufficient. is otherwise likely to stimulate or encourage violent behaviour involving the use of a knife as a weapon.

Where a weapons offence is accompanied by another offence e.g. assault or robbery, the weapons offence should normally be charged as well as the other offence. Police and prosecutors should ensure that the court has sufficient information about the impact of knife crime offending at the sentencing hearing. Guidance on Victim Personal Statements can be found here. Guidance on Community Impact Statements can be found here. Investigators and prosecutors should consider whether the language used is 'street language' that refers to violence or injury. This language varies between areas but can include terms such as;The most likely gateway for admitting hearsay evidence in cases involving knives is if the witness will not give evidence due to fear. It does not matter whether the fear was brought about by or on behalf of the defendant and fear is given a wide definition which includes fear of the death or injury of another person or of financial loss. This includes fear as a consequence of the offence the subject of the trial. Evidence of previous criminality may be relevant to a matter in issue between the parties, particularly if it casts an innocent explanation (advanced as “good reason”) in a different light or rebutting it entirely. Evidence showing that a defendant is a member of a gang involved in drug and gun crime is admissible to rebut a defence that guns and drugs found in, for example, the defendant’s home, were left there by others. This should be considered particularly in cases where a defendant raises a defence of “good reason” or claims that he did not in fact have the knives in his possession. See the legal guidance on Decision Making in Gang Related Offences for more information. For a person charged with an offence under section 141(1A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 of possession of a curved sword in private to show that a)the person was a Sikh at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed and possessed the sword for the purpose only of presenting it to another person at a religious ceremony or other ceremonial event, or (b)the sword was presented to the person by a Sikh at a religious ceremony or other ceremonial event. If a defendant is silent when questioned and then raises a defence at trial, the prosecutor should seek to have the court draw an adverse inference from this silence. Legislation sets out the effects of the following: the defendant’s failure to mention facts when questioned or charged; the defendant’s silence at trial the defendant’s refusal or failure to account for objects, substances or marks; and the defendant’s refusal or failure to account for his or his presence at a particular place. Prosecutors should ensure each condition is satisfied before seeking these inferences. However, in appropriate cases they should be sought. Bad character A place other than (a) a public place, (b) a place which is part of school premises, or (c) a place which is part of further education premises. This includes a dwelling for the purposes of section 52 OWA- threatening in a private place.

For a minimum sentence to apply to a 'second strike' possession offence, the sequence must be conviction (guilty plea or finding of guilt) for the first relevant offence and then commission of the second “index offence” after 17 July 2015. Minimum sentences will not apply if the second offence was committed whilst the offender was on bail awaiting trial for the first offence. Relevant offences for both the index offence and previous convictions are set out in section 315 Sentencing Act 2020. Section 141(1A) of the 1988 legislation as inserted by section 46 of the 2019 legislation prohibits the possession in private or public of certain offensive weapons – the schedule of weapons can be found here. Note cyclone knives are included. Police forces should produce a Knife Crime Impact Statement to assist the court in understanding the effects of knife crime in their force area. Mandatory minimum sentences Prosecutors should be prepared to make submissions on whether there are particular or exceptional circumstances which would make the imposition of the minimum sentence unjust. Any court decision on whether the minimum term should be imposed must be clearly endorsed on the CPS record.

For offences committed before 28 June 2022, the judge must impose the minimum sentence unless the court is of the opinion that there are “particular circumstances” which relate to the offence, the previous offence(s), or the offender which would make it unjust in all circumstances. Evidential stage: Is there sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction? The evidence must be able to be used in court, reliable and credible, and there is no other material that might affect the sufficiency of evidence. If there is sufficient evidence, go on to consider: Threatening with a bladed articles in a public place or on school or further education premises - Section 139AA