On 07/05/2018 11:05, misterroy wrote:
On Monday, May 7, 2018 at 10:52:22 AM UTC+1, Andy Burns wrote:
T i m wrote:

So for those of us who regularly carry a 'pen / pocket-knife' or
multitool with a non-locking sub 3" blade
I think with the current knife-crime issue, there's zero chance of
getting the classifications relaxed as 'they' don't want to send out any
message that is seen to condone carrying knives.

I carry a small Stanley knife (along with a handful of screwdrivers,
pliers, penlight, etc) in my laptop bag, but that is basically only ever
in my house, car, or on a customer site, the times I'd even walk down a
road with it are rare, so I don't plan to remove the knife.

Reading the govt website it says
"have blades that can be locked and refolded only by pressing a button"
The french knives do not have a button, they have a twist collar. So they would appear to be OK?


No. You are putting to much weight on the gov.uk site.

The legislation merely provides that the "Offence of having article with
blade or point in public place" does not apply to "a folding
pocketknife" with a blade no longer than 3 inches.

There's no definition of "folding pocketknife". But it has been argued
in court. In Harris v DPP it was held that:

"...a knife which has a blade which can be fixed in the open position by
a locking device is not a folding pocketknife within the meaning of
section 1(3) of the 1993 Act"


and


"It cannot be described as a knife of that kind if it has a device which
is designed, until it has been overcome, to prevent the blade from being
folded."

Note nothing about buttons.

More generally, the gov.uk site cannot be relied upon as the _whole_
truth. To be fair, no guidance can else it'd be as long and hard to
read as the original legislation and case law. But gov.uk marked a
significant simplification (or dumbing down) of the guidance departments
used to produce.



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid