- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
America is stupid for excessive guns. But this is stupid in the other direction. Talk about over policing. Fuck me this is stupid
Too bad he’s a criminal now or id tell em to come to merica where he can carry a real pistol like a big boy
It’s dangerous to go alone! take this.
hands Link a glock
Prison? For this?
Just take it away and warn him. How did no one along the way protest the heavy handedness of this?
He’s a known burglar, has done at least 4 years in prison and ‘but it’s just a novelty item’ has been a tactic of criminals in England for a long time.
Oh, I guess I was assuming it wasn’t even sharp, like an actual novelty item.
I feel like he could have been let off with a fine and confiscation where if he would do it again or act provocatively the prison sentence would apply. 4 months in prison is a lot
A suspended prison sentence makes too much sense. Gotta teach this nerd a lesson.
Why so extreme? At most it should’ve been confiscated and given a small fine.
That old man lying motherfucker…
Have police there never heard of a “letter opener”? 🤔
There’s a reason “zero tolerance” is also called “zero intelligence”.
Have police there never heard of a “letter opener”? 🤔
At this point, a significant number of them are young enough to have never opened a letter in their lives, so possibly. But this is still extremely stupid.
Some NotTheOnion type shit.
it was only 15cm long. that’s at best a Master Dagger, not a master sword! still too long to be legal to carry out in public though.
It may be only a few centimeters, but you know what it could do if fully charged*.
(*I know, that’s what he said or something)
If I’d encounter someone wielding a naked 15cm blade, I’d be extremely wary as well. That blade can easily cause serious harm or kill, regardless of being a replica toy or not. Walking around with what is essentially a dagger is reckless. Maybe the sentence is a bit harsh, but that dude deserved being stopped.
Can’t pretty much everything around you cause serious harm or kill??? I don’t understand this stance.
Yes, you’re right everything can cause serious harm or kill, but certain things are designed to harm or kill, or designed to look like something that could harm or kill.
Context is a big factor here. A person holding a 6 inch knife in a kitchen? No one is going to bat an eye. They’re probably using that knife to prep vegetables. Same knife, same person but they are walking around a market/playground/movie theatre? Suddenly it’s a very different situation and context.
Is that stranger with the knife safe? I don’t know, but I do know that I don’t have anything to defend myself aside from what is around me if they ARE NOT a safe person.
There is nothing wrong with running around swinging knives simply because you want to. That’s just freedom, and it’s ok.
I don’t have anything to defend myself
So instead of arming yourself, you’re trying to disarm the rest of the world? Why take that difficult path instead of the easy way?
Public safety.
So instead of arming yourself
Yeah no wonder America is a lost cause in terms of violence. How or why would anyone arm themselves when they’re already in a public place?
To protect yourself and others from crazies. Because crazies can and will use anything and everything as a weapon.
And how come the crazies exist nonetheless and do all that kind of stuff somewhat independently of other people being armed?
Also, these same crazies, in other countries, tend to be unarmed (besides kitchen weapons). Would you prefer to defend against one with a gun or one with a knife?
If someone in those countries is caught in shady circumstances carrying any sort of substantial blade, that person is in trouble. If someone in a “freedom country” is caught carrying a gun under the same shady circumstances, that person walks free as that’s not illegal by itself.
And how come the crazies exist nonetheless and do all that kind of stuff somewhat independently of other people being armed?
A mix of mental health issues and standard human nature.
Would you prefer to defend against one with a gun or one with a knife?
One with a knife. But my preference of enemy arms does not negate that enemy’s right to defend themself with a gun. I’d also prefer that no one ever hurt anyone else, but my preference there cannot be guaranteed.
And yes, correct, in the USA we can have guns.
With a bit more self-awareness, Bray could have avoided contact with us completely.”
With a shred of brain matter, Sgt Spellman and the bastards he works with, could have not pursued such a ridiculous “crime”.
This is not a ridiculous crime, that guy is dumb af and dangerous.
This is a bot account folks.
Bot, or just a troll? Been seeing a lot of them recently.
True, I’d still give them partial credit for the dumb statement.
Law says you can’t carry a knife bigger than 3 in. He carries a knife twice that size.
Does he carry concealed in his pocket?
No, He’s walking around carrying it openly pretending he’s a blade master, oh sorry that’s he claims it’s a fidget toy.
4 months in jail seems a bit excessive, but when the law says don’t carry a weapon and you carry a weapon…
In addition to the four months in prison, he was required to pay a victim surcharge of £154.
So not only was there no victim here but himself he is also now out of work for a minimum of 4 months he’s now out 154 bucks. Fuck this world. Like ya, I get that there is that law for a reason, so sure, maybe give him a fine or better yet community service and then let him be on his way. What they have done benefits no one at all and wastes local resources.
Victim surcharge is just a fine with another name.
It goes to a fund that pays compensation for victims of crimes and £154 is just what you have to pay for any crime that results in you getting a jail sentence of 6 months or below.
The image in the article shows the entire thing being 20cm and the actual ‘blade’ portion of the toy being around 13cm long. a little longer than the blade on a pretty standard multi tool like a Leatherman.
Is this seriously what the police were actually concerned about, I understand that it’s different in the UK vs the US, but this is definitely overkill. This thing would need to be pinched between your thumb and index finger like a cigarette to be wielded and is arguably less dangerous than a fork.
They’re only allowed to have 7.62 cm, so from a legal standpoint it’s almost twice the legal limit.
If the law doesn’t make sense you don’t challenge it by breaking it.
The police don’t carry guns there so yeah they’re concerned.
Running around twirling a clearly illegal item in public is pretty good logical grounds for police intervention. If the law says 3 in when do you actually stop them is it 4, 10, 12? If he was just transporting it from one house to another they might have let it go. But he’s walking around fidgeting twirling it in the open. I suspect he was performing twirls and dagger tricks. So the general public is probably also a little concerned. If he’s walking around his neighborhood twirling it around all the time it might even been a neighbor that called the police on it.
The fine is reasonable, getting locked up for 4 months is probably a bit much.
Are you seriously that dumb?
Removed, civility.
How else can one react to a person defending a violent criminal? Maybe you should remove such comments instead.
First, a guy carrying a toy sword is not “a violent criminal”.
Second, even if they were, defending them doesn’t break any of the community rules.
First of all, it’s not a toy sword according to the law. Second, that guy was carrying it unsheathed. Third, he didn’t have a good reason to carry. But fourth, the most important thing, that guy is a known criminal who already served four years for burglary. He broke not a “community rule”, he broke multiple laws and is a known offender.
We aren’t talking about what the guy did, we’re talking about you wanting to remove another users comment for imaginary reasoning.
Nothing in the comment broke the rules, that comment stands.
The reply to it broke the civility rules, it was removed.
You should re-read the original comment then.
Modlog is public… you don’t need to announce the reason separately.
At least it didn’t break in the middle of fighting a Lynel.
I know people are reacting strongly, prob a large US contingent here and that’s understandable. It is a completely different world in the UK. The police don’t carry firearms (specialist response teams do) as they are just not as available to the general public. Knives or clubs/bats are the most common weapon encountered. Even in that context I too find the sentence pretty heavy on the face of it. The article was rubbish at giving anything other than rage-bait. It didn’t explain if there were circumstances of aggravation, does he have form (ie prior same or related offences), were there vulnerable people in the vicinity, which specific charge was he accused with (possessing or threatening with) did he plead guilty, were there mitigating factors that actually reduced his sentence as the mandatory minimum sentence for “threatening with a weapon” is six months, eg did he cooperate, is he a sole caregiver for someone at home etc.
Only thing I’ve walked away knowing is the author of the article seemed more interested in provoking outrage and upping their hit count than demonstrating any investigative nous or journalistic integrity.
Even though we have the gun nuts all over this fucked up country, we do manage to far outscore the UK on per capita knife crime as well. Yay us. I agree with your take on the motivation for the article.