Man jailed for 2 years for possesion of stun gun

Ward was jailed for two years by a judge at Sheffield Crown Court after he admitted possessing the prohibited firearm. He had been facing a mandatory five year sentence but Judge Alan Goldsack QC said two recent Appeal Court judgments meant he could reduce the jail term.

Source

I cannot believe this is happening here in England. Well if you have weapons in your house and the cops find them you will be arrested and charged. This is so bloody wrong how can we protect ourselves against tyranny once SHTF. The stun gun was even made to look like a mobile phone but his girlfriend told the cops. What do you think?

Love & Light xx

Well the key here seems to be that it's a stun gun disguised as a cell phone... seems to make a bit of a difference.

I suppose I could hide a 22 as a broom ... would that be legal? I doubt it... the sentence is extreme however... they seem to be admittedly using him as an example.. the law said 5 years, he broke that law... they could have cut him a break but decided not to ..

The key seems to be he has a weapon hidden as something else and it already has a law against it ... and he broke it .

Originally posted by miniatus
Well the key here seems to be that it's a stun gun disguised as a cell phone... seems to make a bit of a difference.

I suppose I could hide a 22 as a broom ... would that be legal? I doubt it... the sentence is extreme however... they seem to be admittedly using him as an example.. the law said 5 years, he broke that law... they could have cut him a break but decided not to ..

edit on 2/26/2013 by miniatus because: (no reason given)

its only a weapon if you use it as one. Plus I thought that you can have weapons on private land. Is it not private property? The cops had no warrant to search the house.

The basis of the law is a bit over the top to be sure. I mean defense would be a nice thing to allow you folks in England. After all, it's not quite as Jolly as it once was, eh? Perhaps it never was. Anyway, prison time for a purely defensive thing is absurd. You all must have plenty of free space. I wonder what that does to this otherwise law abiding citizen after 2 years served though? In the US Prison system I think that would be more than enough time to change a person for life, to be honest. All for that?

Originally posted by Sk8ergrl

Originally posted by miniatus
Well the key here seems to be that it's a stun gun disguised as a cell phone... seems to make a bit of a difference.

I suppose I could hide a 22 as a broom ... would that be legal? I doubt it... the sentence is extreme however... they seem to be admittedly using him as an example.. the law said 5 years, he broke that law... they could have cut him a break but decided not to ..

edit on 2/26/2013 by miniatus because: (no reason given)

its only a weapon if you use it as one. Plus I thought that you can have weapons on private land. Is it not private property? The cops had no warrant to search the house.

That's a lame response... there are some things you could apply that to .. like a fork... a stun gun has what other uses? ... to tenderize your pork? .. get real =) ... yes you can have weapons on private land if the law permits it .. I don't know the UK law... it's not the same as here.. I know weapon restrictions are stricter there.. especially if you're DISGUISING your weapon as something else... that makes a whole lot of difference... that looks shady.. the main problem here is disguising it as something else.. that's concealing it .. hiding .. why? no need to ..keep it in your pocket and use it when you need it .. don't go out of your way to hide it as something else, that makes it sound like you're looking to use it on the offense.

I hide a stun gun in my phone and decide to jolt random people ... they catch me, find it in my cell.. I just say it's defense! .. makes no sense WHATSOEVER ... there's a reason they want things to stay AS THEY ARE BOUGHT AND APPROVED ... to prevent that sort of crap... he broke that, they could have let him off easy but then others would be more compelled to do the same... hide stun weapons in non-noticeable items .. which can increase crime and make it harder to detect..

Instead, use it as it's intended.. keep it on you.. use it when you need it to protect yourself.

Its getting to the point where if your attacked you are breaking the law defending your self,burglars have even got home owners prosecuted before for beating them up after they was found intruding the system is truly messed up the police cant be everywhere at once and with further police budget cuts there will be less police every year it seems the only legal thing you can do is weight train and learn self defense lol and the Americans are moaning because they are no longer allowed automatic weapons with more than 30 rounds ha.try not even been allowed to carry a box cutter without looking at jail time.

Originally posted by miniatus

Originally posted by Sk8ergrl

Originally posted by miniatus
Well the key here seems to be that it's a stun gun disguised as a cell phone... seems to make a bit of a difference.

I suppose I could hide a 22 as a broom ... would that be legal? I doubt it... the sentence is extreme however... they seem to be admittedly using him as an example.. the law said 5 years, he broke that law... they could have cut him a break but decided not to ..

edit on 2/26/2013 by miniatus because: (no reason given)

its only a weapon if you use it as one. Plus I thought that you can have weapons on private land. Is it not private property? The cops had no warrant to search the house.

That's a lame response... there are some things you could apply that to .. like a fork... a stun gun has what other uses? ... to tenderize your pork? .. get real =) ... yes you can have weapons on private land if the law permits it .. I don't know the UK law... it's not the same as here.. I know weapon restrictions are stricter there.. especially if you're DISGUISING your weapon as something else... that makes a whole lot of difference... that looks shady.. the main problem here is disguising it as something else.. that's concealing it .. hiding .. why? no need to ..keep it in your pocket and use it when you need it .. don't go out of your way to hide it as something else, that makes it sound like you're looking to use it on the offense..

edit on 2/26/2013 by miniatus because: (no reason given)

What if the stun gun was for protection against gangs in the area? I know that sheffield has gangs and lots of killings lately. Yes I understand that my example was poorly thought sorry about that I'm just very angry that we can't even defend ourselves and if we have anything they say is illegal. This was a family dispute and the cops had no right searching the house but they do.

Originally posted by Sk8ergrl
What if the stun gun was for protection against gangs in the area? I know that sheffield has gangs and lots of killings lately. Yes I understand that my example was poorly thought sorry about that I'm just very angry that we can't even defend ourselves and if we have anything they say is illegal. This was a family dispute and the cops had no right searching the house but they do.

It doesn't matter what it's for... you have a stun gun, you use it.. it may not save you.. but whether you take the time to hide it in a cell phone or in your back pocket isn't going to make a difference... if it's a fully assembled stun gun, not modified from spec.. and fully legal in your area.. then you should be fine.. if you bought one and it's illegal in your area.. or if modifying it is illegal.. you broke the law

The man must of had previous weapon charges of some sort to get 2 years and if it was made to look like a mobile phone it is also a concealed weapon.

Originally posted by miniatus

Originally posted by Sk8ergrl
What if the stun gun was for protection against gangs in the area? I know that sheffield has gangs and lots of killings lately. Yes I understand that my example was poorly thought sorry about that I'm just very angry that we can't even defend ourselves and if we have anything they say is illegal. This was a family dispute and the cops had no right searching the house but they do.

It doesn't matter what it's for... you have a stun gun, you use it.. it may not save you.. but whether you take the time to hide it in a cell phone or in your back pocket isn't going to make a difference... if it's a fully assembled stun gun, not modified from spec.. and fully legal in your area.. then you should be fine.. if you bought one and it's illegal in your area.. or if modifying it is illegal.. you broke the law

All stun guns are prohibited in England even pepper spray for us women. I do know a bit of kick boxing from my youth which might help a bit lol.

reply to post by Sk8ergrl


Defence does not count as a mitigating factor in UK law.

Defence is not a good enough reason to be carrying a fixed blade or locking knife, or a folding blade >3" in public, you need to be carrying it to work, taking it home, going fishing etc or it's illegal. You're allowed them on your property though, so knives are semi-legal, in a sense.

Stun guns are illegal completely, so why would having one be allowed, whether you had a valid reason or not?

reply to post by Dispo


Because everyone has the right to protect their property and sheffield is rough area.

reply to post by Sk8ergrl


Legally, they don't.

We can argue whether we should or shouldn't be allowed to defend ourselves and our property if you want, but in terms of law, there is no debate.

You cannot possess offensive weapons without valid reasons and permits. If you use a household object as a weapon which exceeds reasonable force (hint: you're always exceeding reasonable force if you use a weapon, even if the other guy has a gun) then you will be arrested and charged. The area being rough doesn't matter, having death threats made against you doesn't matter, legally you cannot carry a weapon, or own one without a permit.

Originally posted by Dispo
reply to post by Sk8ergrl

 

Legally, they don't.

We can argue whether we should or shouldn't be allowed to defend ourselves and our property if you want, but in terms of law, there is no debate.

You cannot possess offensive weapons without valid reasons and permits. If you use a household object as a weapon which exceeds reasonable force (hint: you're always exceeding reasonable force if you use a weapon, even if the other guy has a gun) then you will be arrested and charged. The area being rough doesn't matter, having death threats made against you doesn't matter, legally you cannot carry a weapon, or own one without a permit.

I'm sorry but when the SHTF and the government will send their goons don't you think that we need to protect ourselves?

reply to post by Sk8ergrl


I never said that at all. I said that the law, as it stands, completely prohibits the ownership or carrying of offensive weapons.

If you have them and are caught, you will go to jail.

As I said, we can talk about whether the law is just or not, but you're saying that you're allowed to have weapons as long as you don't use them - that's not true. You also said the police had no justification to search the house - they did, they were told he had an illegal item by his girlfriend.