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10 October 2019 / Alec Samuels
Issue: 7859 / Categories: Features , Criminal
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Lethal weapon: knife crime & the law

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He is charged with carrying a knife: Alec Samuels examines the related possibilities & outcomes
  • Are there any defences or mitigating circumstances that are available to someone that has been charged with carrying a knife?
  • The law is scattered over several different statutes and unconsolidated. When will we get a reformed modern code of criminal law, evidence and procedure, and sentencing?

If charged with carrying a knife or having a bladed article under the Prevention of Crime Act 1953, s 1; the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959; the Criminal Justice Act 1988, s 139; the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 SI 2019; and the Offensive Weapons Act 2019…is there any defence or mitigation?

The knife must be proved by the prosecution to be an offensive weapon, either per se or otherwise. The weapon is likely to be per se offensive if in reality there is no proper use likely or possible, eg the only use of a flick knife (defined in

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