A man cautioned for carrying a bladed trowel in public

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www.bbc.co.uk

Gardener 'given no choice' over trowel arrest caution

Samuel Rowe accepted a caution without representation because police could not find a solicitor.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

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.
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Not sure what to make of this to be honest.
 
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At first seemed like a considerable mishandling by the police but when it eventually gets to the details the gardener was considerably misguided in their transport of the tools - if you are going to be moving equipment like that too and from site it would be very advisable to put them in a suitable bag rather than wear a bladed item (which resembles a dagger) on the hip in an accessible fashion.
 
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It's the word 'trowel' which should be in inverted commas in the headline. This (link below is from the article) won't fit most people's impressions of one, and carrying it on the hip in public is somewhere between naïve and stupid.

www.instagram.com

Niwaki on Instagram: "From humble beginnings to legendary status, the Hori Hori started life as a poor man's foraging tool, used to harvest wild mountain vegetables (collectively known as sensai). Crafted by generations of Japanese blacksmiths, with

110 likes, 3 comments - niwaki.hq on July 11, 2025: "From humble beginnings to legendary status, the Hori Hori started life as a poor man's foraging tool, used to harvest wild mountain vegetables (collectively known as sensai). Crafted by generations of Japanese blacksmiths, with the Hori Hori...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
The perils of skim reading i missed that he had it on display, thanks to Roff for pointing that out.

If i had noticed i probably wouldn't have started a thread to be honest.
 
I'd not be surprised at being lifted if I wandered the streets with this. The police should/could have realised their mistake earlier though unless they didn't want to start a trend of street gangs carrying around £40 trowels.


hori-hori-pro-with-niju-holster.png
 
montymint said:
There really isn’t. He walked out in public with a bladed article on display and got nicked for it.
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I may have been a bit flippant, my bad.

That said, what do you actually do if you have an allotment and can't leave tools in a shed so they don't get knicked by a scote.
 
Rob_B said:
I'd not be surprised at being lifted if I wandered the streets with this. The police should/could have realised their mistake earlier though unless they didn't want to start a trend of street gangs carrying around £40 trowels.


hori-hori-pro-with-niju-holster.png
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Yep right action by the police. That's a knife.
 
adidan said:
That said, what do you actually do if you have an allotment and can't leave tools in a shed so they don't get knicked by a scote.
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To quote from https://www.cribgochoutdoor.com/blo...to-know-uk-knife-laws-helpful-bushcraft-guide

-Ensure your knife is not being used or carried in a manner that can cause distress or alarm to the public.
-Transport and store knives in a way that cannot be misconstrued as being a weapon.
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While it is practical advice rather than legal advice it meshes with the law on the subject and is pretty much common sense. A suitable bag for transporting gardening tools and in with other tools while owning an allotment would nominally satisfy the good reason part of the law.
 
If im walking I carry my bladed tools down the allotment in my bag.
adidan said:
I may have been a bit flippant, my bad.

That said, what do you actually do if you have an allotment and can't leave tools in a shed so they don't get knicked by a scote.
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"given no choice"
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"he had to accept the caution without representation or face longer in custody"
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He screwed up and he knew it.

If he cared about keeping a clean sheet he'd sit there demanding refreshments til they trawled up the most desperate for money legal representation, to ask if there's any possible way he's not getting done for carrying something that's identical to a knife.
 
What a load of ********....

Officers were waiting for the guy outside his house, so someone knew where he'd just been.
He's walking along with various gardening implements and tools, some of which are on a semblance of a tool belt, and still carrying some of the hedge bits he's just pruned off.
From that perspective he has good reason for possessing the items - Even if it were actually a knife, he's clearly treating it like any other tool, rather than a weapon.

Sounds more like a neighbour didn't like him and Karened up the complaint to the Police.
"Ooh, he's a knife-wielding maniac, hacking up who knows what down the allotments"...

I presume anglers will soon be stopped for carrying something similar to garottes...
 
ttaskmaster said:
What a load of ********....

Officers were waiting for the guy outside his house, so someone knew where he'd just been.
He's walking along with various gardening implements and tools, some of which are on a semblance of a tool belt, and still carrying some of the hedge bits he's just pruned off.
From that perspective he has good reason for possessing the items - Even if it were actually a knife, he's clearly treating it like any other tool, rather than a weapon.

Sounds more like a neighbour didn't like him and Karened up the complaint to the Police.
"Ooh, he's a knife-wielding maniac, hacking up who knows what down the allotments"...

I presume anglers will soon be stopped for carrying something similar to garottes...
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You could have good reason for possessing a knife and a rifle and walking about in public.

But unless you're using them for the allowed purposes right there (unlikely), no one is meant to see them and you're not to go shopping and take detours as you go from appropriate place to appropriate place.

If you're going to be legal, you do it properly or it's not legal at all.
 
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