2018/0290/UK
EC/EFTA
GB Royaume-Uni
  • X00M - MARCHANDISES ET PRODUIT-DIVERS
2018-09-26
2018-06-29

The measures in the Offensive Weapons Bill will help reduce violent crime. Specifically, the Bill will prohibit the possession of certain corrosives substances in a public place and the sale of corrosive products to those aged under 18; strengthen the arrangements for the online sale of bladed articles and corrosive products; prohibit the possession of certain offensive weapons and prohibit the possession of certain firearms.

Offensive Weapons Bill

The Offensive Weapons Bill creates a new criminal offence of selling (both online and offline) a corrosive product to a person under the age of 18. The substances and concentration levels of what constitutes a corrosive product are set out in a Schedule to the Bill. Other measures in the Bill create a new criminal offence of possessing a corrosive substance in a public place. There is a defence of possessing the corrosive substance for good reason. There is a minimum custodial sentence in England and Wales where a person is convicted for a relevant offence a second time. Where a corrosive product or bladed article is sold online, the defence of having taken reasonable precautions can only be relied on where the seller meets certain conditions in terms of age verification and packaging and delivery of the items.

The Bill also creates new criminal offences prohibiting the dispatch of bladed products and corrosive products sold online to a residential address. The offence for bladed products is limited to those that can cause serious injury and includes defences for made to order items and those for sporting and re-enactment purposes. In connection with these measures, the Bill also creates new criminal offences on delivery companies of delivering a bladed article or a corrosive product on behalf of a seller outside Great Britain to a person under 18.

The Bill updates the definition of a flick knife and prohibits the possession of flick knives and gravity knives, the sale, importation and manufacture of which is already prohibited. In respect of other offensive weapons, the Bill amends section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to make it a criminal offence to possess certain weapons (such as knuckledusters and death stars) – the sale and importation of these is already prohibited and provides for compensation of owners who have to surrender these weapons. Other measures in the Bill extend the existing offences of possessing a bladed article or offensive weapon on school premises to cover further education premises in England and Wales and amends the legal test for threatening with an offensive weapon in England and Wales to aid prosecution.

In respect of firearms, the Bill prohibits high energy and rapid firing rifles and a device known as a “bump stock” which increases the rate of fire of rifles. Provision is also made for compensation for owners who have to surrender these weapons.