Young people and

My own advice would be to avoid carrying any kind of 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 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 or a hand gun, weapon some sheath knives, but not lock knives and 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 or a 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 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.