Stanley Folding Pocket Knife 0 10 598

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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: 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 The NPCC and CPS have produced guidance on charging children and young people. This can be found here. This guidance explains the approach that should be taken in respect of 16 and 17 year olds as well as children under 16 years old. 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

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.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. Unauthorised possession of knives and other offensive weapons in prisons – section 40CA Prison Act 1952 as added by section 78 Serious Crime Act 2015. 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. It does not matter what age the offender was at the commission of the first relevant offence, but they must be at least 16 years at the commission of the second offence for a minimum sentence to be imposed.

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.

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Possession of prohibited offensive weapons in private: Section 141(1A) as inserted by section 46 OWA. 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 Police officers should ensure that any requirement for special measures is noted on the reverse of the witness’s MG11 and any specific grounds are explained in the body of the statement. A completed MG2 should be included with the file to the CPS, setting out which special measures are sought by a victim or witness and the grounds. Work is currently being undertaken by the NPCC to develop guidance for schools about knife crime. Further details of this will be included in future updates of this document. 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:

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. Public Interest stage: Is a prosecution required in the public interest? A prosecution will usually follow unless there are public interest factors tending against a prosecution which outweigh those in favour. There is a compelling public interest in the prosecution of adults for offences involving weapons. Cautions 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.

Further Reading

The person’s conduct was for the purpose only of making the sword available for presentation by a Sikh to another person at a religious ceremony or other ceremonial event.

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;Possession of certain dangerous knives - Section 1A Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959- as inserted by section 44 of OWA.