§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what guidelines he has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the level of charge of offenders for carrying offensive weapons. [13264]
§ The Attorney-GeneralI have been asked to reply.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, and through her the Crown Prosecution Service, is supervised by the Attorney-General. The service, when dealing with cases involving offensive weapons, applies the principles set out in the code for Crown prosecutors.
The law makes a distinction between the carrying in a public place of offensive weapons on the one hand and bladed or pointed instruments on the other. Possessing an offensive weapon is the more serious charge. Offensive weapons fall into three categories: those made for causing injury, those adapted for causing injury, or those intended by the defendant to cause injury. The offence of carrying of bladed instruments does not require proof that the defendant intended to use it to cause personal injury and carries a lesser penalty. The choice of charge will depend upon the evidence which is available to support the charge and is selected by the Crown Prosecution Service to reflect the seriousness of the offending, to give the court adequate sentencing powers, and to enable the evidence to be presented in a clear and simple way.
The Offensive Weapons Bill currently going through Parliament will increase the maximum sentences for offences under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 and section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to four years' imprisonment and two years' imprisonment respectively.