Man fined £400 for breaching suspended sentence (From Watford Observer)
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Shane Sobey fined £400 for breaching suspended sentence
3:30pm Thursday 31st January 2013 in News By Frazer Ansell
Shane Sobey was driving to do his community service when a police officer stopped him in Vicarage Road, Watford.
The 23-year-old, who had been given a suspended sentence and unpaid work for supplying drugs, was asked if he had anything on him.
He said: "I am on my way to community service, is this going to take long?"
There were no drugs on him, but he told the officer there was a knuckle duster in the central console of the VW Golf, St Albans crown court heard yesterday.
Prosecutor Edward Lewis said Sobey was questioned and told the police he had no intention of using the weapon.
Sobey, of Fotherley Road, Rickmansworth, pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon.
He admitted being in breach of the suspended sentence which had been imposed on April 3 last year. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to attend for unpaid work - on April 22 and December 23 last year.
Defence barrister Ian Brownhill, said the knuckle duster was an ornamental weapon. He said Sobey was now working as an apprentice earning £900 a month for a folding door company. Its boss had provided Sobey with a "glowing reference" for the judge, he said.
Judge John Plumstead told him: "You have got close to going to prison. You have got a good job and as good a reference from the company as I have seen. You are a valued member of staff. I hope I won't see you again."
The judge ordered him to pay a £400 fine within 3 months or face 14 days in jail. He must also pay a £15 victim surcharge and received a 12 month conditional discharge.
Comments(5)
LawAbidingCitizen82
says...
5:14pm Thu 31 Jan 13
Firstly I agree with the above post. A knuckle duster would not be considered a suitable ornament by many. And secondly surely the item has to be on display to constitute as an ornament, not hidden in the car of a drug dealer.
garston tony
says...
7:19am Fri 1 Feb 13
theguitarman
says...
9:53am Fri 1 Feb 13
Lsobey
says...
10:53pm Sat 2 Feb 13
Should you wish to know my brother is not a drug dealer & never has been. I hope that no one you all love & care for is ever falsely accused & belittled in this way.
You got to love the sanctimonious British public.
MarsLander says...
3:52pm Thu 31 Jan 13
He was probably going to have it made into a keyring or something.
The knuckleduster was described by the defence barrister as an ornamental weapon. What does that mean?
Here's the wiki description for those, like me, who do not see the ornamental quality of such a weapon.
Brass knuckles, also sometimes called knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, or knuckledusters, are weapons used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles are pieces of metal shaped to fit around the knuckles. Despite their name, they are usually made of steel. Designed to preserve and concentrate a punch's force by directing it toward a harder and smaller contact area, they result in increased tissue disruption, including an increased likelihood of fracturing the victim's bones on impact. The extended and rounded palm grip also spreads across the attacker's palm the counter-force that would otherwise be absorbed primarily by the attacker's fingers, reducing the likelihood of damage to the attacker's fingers.
I'm not sure I would want to use one as an ornament.