The Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (C.14) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that restricts the carrying of offensive weapons in public. The Act was passed in response to the large rise in violent crime in the United Kingdom, with 800 cases of armed robbery, assault with intent to rob or robbery with violence and 4,445 cases of malicious wounding in 1951 (the last year up to that point with such statistics). While many of these may not have included weapons, if the police found somebody in a public place with a weapon then (unless it was a firearm or imitation firearm) they were powerless to detain them or confiscate the weapon.[1] The Prevention of Crime Act was created to resolve this, receiving the Royal Assent on 6 May 1953 and coming into force on 6 June.[2]
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| Long title | An Act to prohibit the carrying of offensive weapons in public places without lawful authority or reasonable excuse |
|---|---|
| Citation | C.14 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales, Scotland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 May 1953 |
| Commencement | 6 June 1953 |
Status: Current legislation | |
Under the original Act, a person found in a public place carrying an offensive weapon commits a criminal offence punishable by up to 2 years in prison. A public place includes highways and anywhere to which the public could regularly have access – such as post offices and train stations. The Act makes certain attempts to define an offensive weapon, dividing it into three categories: "articles made for causing injury to the person", such as knuckledusters and batons; "articles adapted for use for causing injury", such as a sock with a brick in it; and "articles intended for use for causing injury to the person", which would include normal, day-to-day items such as scissors. For a conviction under the third category, the prosecution must show evidence that the defendant was intending to use it as an offensive weapon.[3] There is a defence if the defendant had "lawful authority or a reasonable excuse" for carrying the instrument. The onus to provide a reasonable excuse is on the defendant, which is unusual since English criminal law has a principle that defendants are "innocent until proven guilty".[4]
References
Bibliography
Primary Sources
- "Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (original text)" (PDF). Office of Public Sector Information. 1953. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
- "Prevention of Crime Act 1953". UK Statute Law Database. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
Secondary Sources
- Edwards, J. (1953). "Prevention of Crime Act 1953". Modern Law Review. 16 (4). Blackwell Publishing. ISSN 0026-7961.