House of Eratosthenes

A former soldier in England has been arrested and convicted (and may even go to jail for five years) because he found a gun in his yard and he turned it over to the police. I presume this is in part a reflection of the anti-gun ideology embedded in UK law, but don’t prosecutors and judges have even a shred of discretion to avoid foolish prosecutions and/or protect innocent people from absurd charges? Here is the news report:

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for “doing his duty”. Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year. The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year’s imprisonment for handing in the weapon. In a statement read out in court, Mr Clarke said: “I didn’t think for one moment I would be arrested.”

… The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden. In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges. “I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him. “At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.” Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.

… Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a “strict liability” charge – therefore Mr Clarke’s allegedly honest intent was irrelevant. Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added.

… Judge Christopher Critchlow said: “This is an unusual case, but in law there is no dispute that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge. “The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant.”

It’s what naturally happens when the people governed by a government cease to be citizens, and become subjects instead. Look what he has in his hands. Off to jail with him.

Tea. Crates. Boston Harbor. Ker-sploosh.

Completely absurd!!! I’m speechless.
- KC | 11/19/2009 @ 10:24
I’m wondering – if a Muslim man in his 20’s turned in an AK-47, would the police have responded the exact same way?

The UK is gone, finished, kaput, over. I never thought I would live to see the day where merry old England was turned into a police state.

What’s interesting is that these are the same authorities who probably look the other way when the Muslims in their midst spread hate speech and plot terror attacks. Oh, they’ll prosecute individual acts, but passing special laws designed to crack down on that kind of behavior or changing their immigration laws to keep such people out of the UK? Nah.

And now I’m wondering if the authorities in the US would be as ridiculous with someone who found an object that’s illegal in some American jurisdiction.
- cylarz | 11/19/2009 @ 16:15
On top of this travesty, this miscarriage of justice for an individual UK citizen…

If anything, this episode is going to discourage honest citizens from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement, and it’s going to make the good guys distrustful of the police.

That isn’t a good thing. Cops cannot be everywhere all the time, and they rely on ordinary people to be their eyes and ears. Nobody’s going to volunteer any information to the authorities if they’re just (apparently) arbitrarily jailing people who are actually trying to help.

Ultimately, the “bobbies” in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham…just screwed themselves. Word of this incident is going to get around to the community one way or another, and now because of this new mistrust, the police there are going to have a harder time finding and capturing the actual bad guys because no one is going to want to get involved.

Nice going, idiots. This is what happens when the police take on an “us vs them” mentality…instead of the more realistic attitude that the community is a partner in law enforcement, not an adversary. 95% of the public is honest and wants to help the cops keep criminal activity down.
- cylarz | 11/19/2009 @ 16:21
Maybe they were just pissed and embarrassed when they realized that a dude just strolled unmolested through the station and into the superintendent’s office with a sawed-off shotgun in a trash bag.
- Andy | 11/19/2009 @ 16:21

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Man Convicted for Possessing a ShotgunThursday, November 19th, 2009

Man Convicted for Possessing a Shotgun
Thursday, November 19th, 2009