A 19-year-old Newport man has been given a conditional discharge after Police found a samurai sword – which he bought from a charity shop – inside his home.
Oliver Williams appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court on 7th February charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a private place – a charge he pleaded guilty to at the first opportunity.
It was in November last year that Police arrested Williams for unrelated matters, which led to a search of his home address at Priors Walk, Newport, the court heard from Crown Prosecutor Serena Edwards.
During their search, officers located the curved sword inside a fastened case.
Defending, Oscar Vincent explained to the bench that Williams had volunteered the information about where to find the sword, which was in a case in a spare bedroom. The weapon had been purchased in a charity shop with the purpose of being put on display on the wall.
Magistrates handed the apprentice scaffolder a 6-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £85 costs with a £26 surcharge.
The charity shop should know better, so
should the Numpty scaffolder.