Sock full of rocks among weapons seized by Police

Wednesday 22 November 2017

A sock full of rocks, which was intended to be used as a cosh in a fight in a pub car park, was among weapons seized by the Police in Jersey.

A total of 75 weapons have been confiscated since 1 January 2015, according to information released in response to a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Law.

They were seized from 56 separate events. 18 offensive weapons have been reported so far this year, a slight increase compared to the past two years, as 16 cases were reported in 2015 and 14 in 2016. Those cases do not necessarily involve items seized as evidence of a crime, but also include weapons being handed in.

The range of weapons seized includes knives -  including kitchen knives, flick knives, lock knives, hunting knives, gravity knives and butterfly knives- knuckledusters, baseball bats and martial arts equipment such as rice flails.

The Police say they also seized a sock full of rocks which was intended to be used as a cosh during a fight in a pub car park, as well as a spear, a studded wooden club and an axe.

Among the 48 cases recorded since 2015, only 34 were prosecuted. This is because when an individual uses a weapon during a fight, legally described as an affray, or when committing an assault, the offence of ‘Possession of an Offensive Weapon’ is added to the charge.

The ‘possession’ charge may however be dropped later in court if the penalty given for this offence would be insignificant compared to the penalty given for the assault or affray.