Scouts and Knives
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Young people and knives My own advice would be to avoid carrying any kind of knife in public at all – not because it is wrong, but because of the current climate of hysteria regarding “knife crime” o “It is generally an offence to carry a knife [longer than three inches where the blade does not fold into the handle] in public without good reason or lawful authority” www.direct.gov.uk/ Prevention of Crime Act 1953 Section 1 A person carrying an “offensive weapon” in a “public place” is guilty of an offence. Term Definition public place anywhere where the public have or may be permitted to have access whether for payment or not – that includes any Scout camp site and any Scout hut. offensive 1) An article made for causing injury to a person, for example, flick knives, a bayonet or a hand gun, weapon some sheath knives, but not lock knives and pen knives 2) Articles adapted for use for causing injury to a person (for example, a bottle that has been broken so the broken end may be used to cause injury) 3) An article being carried by a person who intends to use it to cause injury (for example, a hammer) Carrying an offensive weapon for "self defence" in case of attack is not a reasonable excuse Having a knife on your person because you had been using the article for an innocent purpose earlier and had “forgotten” to put it away afterwards is not a reasonable excuse There are situations when carrying a knife which could be an offensive weapon would be permissible. On Scout camps a person would probably be considered as having a reasonable excuse were they were carrying, say, a sheath knife or a machete to use to make camp gadgets. However carrying such an article on camp (if a public place) without such a purpose or for any other good reason would be against the law. The maximum penalty for a conviction of this offence is 4 years imprisonment. Age is not a relevant factor so far as this offence is concerned except insofar as children under the age of 10 are below the age of criminal responsibility Note that threatening someone with a small pen-knife, even in jest, could arguably be an offence under 3) above. Criminal Justice Act 1988 Section 139 A person carrying an article with a blade or a point in a public place has committed an offence unless they can prove any of the following:- That they had lawful authority or reasonable excuse for carrying it; That they were carrying the article for use at work; That they were carrying it for religious reasons; That they were carrying it as part of national costume; This offence is punishable by a maximum of 2 years imprisonment Folding pocket knives with blades not exceeding 3 inches are exempt from this provision. This means that it is not an offence to carry a pen knife around with you. Age does not matter - anyone can own or carry a penknife no matter what age they are. The only occasion when the police should take action would be if the person is using, or appears to intend to use - the penknife in such a way as to cause criminal damage or to injure someone. Carrying knives with lockable blades of any length and folding pocket knives with blades exceeding 3 inches are an offence under this law together with any other article that has a blade or is sharply pointed, such as a stanley knife. As above, "self defence" in case of attack or “forgetting” to put the knife away after earlier work is not a reasonable excuse. Offensive Weapons Act 1996 Section 4 It is an offence to carry a blade or a point or an offensive weapon on school premises The same four defences apply here as to the Criminal Justice Act 1988 Section 139(1) as outlined above. Further, this does not apply to the carrying of pocket folding knives with blades less than 3 inches in length. In other words it is still perfectly legal to carry an ordinary penknife on school premises, just as it is anywhere else. .