LAST CHANCE SALOON FOR BLADE CARRIERS - 25 May 2006
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Charlie Gordon MSP withdrew his amendment proposing automatic jail sentences for carrying offensive weapons on 25th May 2006 after most other MSPs called for other new legislative measures and sentencing guidelines to be given a chance to work.
In the debate on the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, Charlie welcomed the doubling of sentences for knife crime, strengthened stop and search powers for the Police and the raising of the legal age for knife purchases, all of which he campaigned for in the last autumn's Glasgow Cathcart by-election.
After Charlie had lodged his amendment, the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, who leads Scotland's Procurator Fiscals and guides its Sheriffs, issued tough new guidelines on knife crime, whereby anyone in possession of a knife will be arrested, remanded in custody, bail will be opposed if they have previous knife convictions and more accused will be tried in courts where higher sentences are available.
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Interestingly, Charlie Gordon's amendment had been discussed at Prime Minister's Question Time at Westminster on Wednesday 24th May:
Q7.Mr. Tom Harris (Glasgow, South) (Lab): This week, at the start of the UK-wide knife amnesty, the Scottish Parliament will be debating an amendment proposed by my MSP, Charlie Gordon, which calls for mandatory prison sentences for anyone carrying a knife in public, in exactly the same way as the law currently deals with those carrying guns. Will the Prime Minister consider introducing a similar law for the rest of our country?
The Prime Minister: We are certainly looking carefully at how we can deal with that situation, which is somewhat different from that of guns, because there can be reasons for particular people to carry a knife. We are giving urgent consideration not just to banning a whole series of other knives that could be used as offensive weapons, but also to ensuring that there is a minimum sentence if someone is found in possession of a knife without good reason. That is something well worth looking at.
Like Tony Blair, Deputy Justice Minister, Hugh Henry MSP left the door open to the approach proposed by Charlie Gordon MSP when he responded in the Scottish Parliament on 25th May:
The Deputy Minister for Justice (Hugh Henry): If the bill, the measures from the Lord Advocate and the signal that is going out to the judiciary are not having the effect that we hope that they will have "if people are still foolishly and wantonly carrying knives " then Charlie Gordon is right: the Parliament must consider what else we need to do, even though we might, at the moment, consider further measures unpalatable.
Charlie Gordon said that in the view of Hugh Henry's response, Prime Minister Tony Blair's views and the Lord Advocate ' s new guidelines, he would withdraw his proposal for now.
The rest of the bill becomes law very soon.
The Lord Advocate's guidelines start after the current month-long knife amnesty. 1000 new hand-held metal detectors have been issued to the Police to deal with knife searches.
Charlie Gordon said "Parliament must send a strong, clear message to the booze and blade boys that they are drinking in the last chance saloon" But in a strong hint to the Courts to use the new measures to protect the public, Charlie added "Sheriffs too can sometimes drink in last chance saloons."
