News, Manchester
A man who was cautioned for carrying a bladed trowel in public has said he was given no choice but to accept the reprimand because police were unable to contact a solicitor for him.
Armed police were sent to challenge Samuel Rowe as he walked home from his allotment in Chorlton, Manchester, carrying the tool, a peeling knife and a sickle.
The 35-year-old theatre manager said he was held for 12 hours, before being told he had to accept the caution without representation or face longer in custody.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said Mr Rowe had admitted possessing a “dagger” and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice about the law on the carrying of bladed weapons in public.
The keen gardener said he was terrified when the armed officers, who did not draw their weapons, arrived outside his home on 3 July.
He said the officers were shouting at him to “drop the knife”.
“I said I didn’t have a knife and they told me to drop the knife again,” he said.
“So I dropped my Japanese hand gardening sickle and a handful of privet that I just cut off the hedge.
“They turned me around, pushed me up against my house, handcuffed me, then put me in the back of a van.”
‘Out of sight’
Mr Rowe said he was questioned by police while in custody and it “felt like they’d gone out that day expecting to catch some kind of lone wolf attacker”.
“I was doing nothing wrong,” he said.
“They treated me like I had been doing harm to people.”
Mr Rowe was carrying a Japanese-made trowel in its sheath, a small Japanese gardener’s sickle and a peeling knife, along with a trug of vegetables.
He said the peeling knife was his late grandmother’s, the sickle had been purchased a decade ago and the trowel, which has a short blade and wooden handle, was a present.
He added that he had not been aware of any warnings about carrying the tools in public.
However, since his arrest, a warning has appeared on the trowel manufacturer’s website.
It said customers needed “to familiarise themselves with offensive weapons law before carrying the tool in public”.
“We strongly advise that you keep this tool concealed, sheathed, and out of sight in public places – preferably in a gardening bag or toolbox rather than on your belt,” it added.
Mr Rowe said he had gone without any legal representation while in custody because officers had been unable to contact a solicitor for him.
He said he accepted a conditional caution, but was now worried it could affect his job at a theatre, where he sometimes had to work with vulnerable young people.
Cautions are given to people on the basis that they admit an offence, but do not count as a criminal conviction.
Some simple cautions are spent as soon as they are accepted, but others could be flagged up on standard and enhanced Disclosure Barring Service checks.
Mr Rowe said he did not believe he had “committed a crime” and called for his caution to be rescinded.
He added that he understood the police had a job to do but was now scared to continue with what had been a lifelong hobby.
GMP said officers were responding to a call that a man had been seen with a knife.
“He was subsequently stopped and a small sickle, a large dagger which was in a sheath on a belt, and a peeling knife, were seized,” the force said.
“He admitted the offence and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice and guidance around the legislation of knives and bladed weapons in a public place.”
