Morning:
14°c
Adult fined £1 for possession of knife
10.09.09
An adult caught in possession of a knife was fined just £1, official figures revealed today.
Campaigners condemned Ministry of Justice statistics which showed more than 1,000 offenders in England and Wales were given fines for carrying a knife in a single year.
Fines were dished out to one in 20 knife carriers sentenced in 2007.
The £1 fine was handed out in 2004, while last year offenders were fined as little as £10.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne accused the Government of "posturing" on knife crime penalties while an anti-crime charity described the punishments as a "slap in the face".
Mr Huhne said: "There is a massive disparity between what the Government say and what the court system does.
"If we are serious about tackling knife crime, then we must send a strong message to knife carriers. These pitiful fines do not do that.
"The Liberal Democrats want to see justice being done, not tough talk that is just empty words."
Lyn Costello, from Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: "It's disgusting.
"People ask 'who's to blame' and in this situation we have to blame the courts.
"If £1 is what they think is a sensible fine it's ridiculous - it's making the whole justice system a laughing stock.
"It's a slap in the face for families of victims, campaigners and the police.
"Unless we all work together nothing is going to change."
She said a message needed to be sent out to young people that they would be severely punished for breaking the law and claimed anyone who said they carried a knife for protection was lying.
"The truth is they carry knives to intimidate, to rob people and for all the wrong reasons," she said.
"Are we going to end up in a world where the streets become ruled by those that carry knives and those that don't hide indoors?
"What we need to do is turn that round and make them have respect for the law."
The figures, which were revealed in answers to written Parliamentary questions, showed 21,350 adults were given a caution or sentence for carrying a bladed weapon in 2007.
A total of 1,187 offenders were given fines, averaging £156.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Carrying a knife is a serious offence, and the Government is determined that those who are caught with a knife face the consequences.
"Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts - this is a cornerstone of our justice system - but the latest figures show more and more people are going to jail, and going to jail for longer.
"Less than 4% of offenders receive a fine for possession of a knife or offensive weapon, compared with 20% who are immediately sent to jail."
Reader views (4)
Remember the professional chef who was arrested for having her knife kit in the car?
- Trunk, US
Get a grip!
Do you know, it's been made illegal to walk home with a secondhand kitchen knife, unless you wrap it in so much hard packaging and sticky tape that it cannot be used as a weapon? And that you could in theory be jailed for five years for inadequate DIY packaging, should the police decide to stop and search you?
This one-pound fine might well be the result of such a "case" being brought before a magistrate by mindless jobsworths in the police and the CPS. Wasn't there a recent case of a man being arrested for using a machete to clear an overgrown allotment? What was he supposed to be using? Scissors?
- Nigel, London
You need to give some context to this. Presumably the guy given a £1 fine was considered morally (although not technically) innocent. To take a story from a day or two ago, perhaps he was a scout going to camp with his penknife and pleaded guilty?
- Comrade Mugabe, New Harare, London
More abject spin and waffle from Jackboot Straw's wombles.
If carrying a knife "is a serious offence" then WHY are culprits not being sent straight to prison for 5 years?
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
