Having an offensive weapon in a public place

s.1Prevention of Crime Act 1953

Having an offensive weapon with you in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

Having an offensive weapon in a public place · Prevention of Crime Act 1953, s.1Card 50 / 85

Points to prove

Has with him – not defined in the Act. The person must know they have the article with them (R v Cugullere 1961).
Public place – s.1(4): includes any highway and any other premises or place to which, at the material time, the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise.
Offensive weapon – s.1(4): any article (a) made for use for causing injury to the person, (b) adapted for such use, or (c) intended by the person having it with them for such use by them or by someone else.

Lawful authority or reasonable excuse – s.1(1): the burden is on the defendant to prove it, on the balance of probabilities.

The three types of weapon matter. A weapon made to injure (offensive per se) needs no proof of intent: a flick knife is one (R v Simpson 1983). An adapted article is altered to injure, such as a broken bottle. For any other article, the prosecution must prove the intended use.
Grabbing an innocent article on the spur of the moment to use in an attack is not “having it with you” for this offence (Ohlson v Hylton 1975). Other offences, such as assault, may apply instead.
Repeat offenders: if the defendant is 16 or over and has a previous relevant weapons conviction, the court must impose a minimum sentence (6 months for adults, a 4-month detention and training order for under-18s) unless there are exceptional circumstances (Sentencing Act 2020, s.315).
Threatening someone with the weapon is the more serious offence under s.1A. Bladed or pointed articles are covered by s.139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 creates a new offence (s.139AB of the Criminal Justice Act 1988) of possessing a bladed article or offensive weapon with intent to use unlawful violence, with a maximum of 7 years. When this card was checked it had not yet come into force.

Legislation: Prevention of Crime Act 1953, s.1 (opens legislation.gov.uk in a new tab)
Mode of trial: Either way
Maximum penalty: 4 years' imprisonment and/or a fine (on indictment); 12 months' imprisonment and/or a fine (summarily)