Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, R (on the application of) v The East Berkshire Justices

Whether an article is a knife under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 is a mixed question of fact and law. The court must first determine the article’s description and characteristics, and then decide as a matter of law whether it falls within the statutory term. A knife may be designed for a single use and may have a curved or serrated blade. The understanding of suppliers or marketers is not determinative. The ordinary meaning of knife applies where the legislation provides no special definition.

Trading Standards officers prosecuted the interested party after an employee sold a grapefruit knife to a test purchaser under 16. The magistrates dismissed the information, finding that the article was not a knife within section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. They did not consider the alternative defence of reasonable precautions and due diligence under section 141A(4). The local authority sought judicial review on the question whether the grapefruit knife fell within the statutory term.

1. The claim for judicial review succeeded. The magistrates’ decision was quashed and the matter was remitted to them to continue the hearing. There was no order as to costs.
2. Whether an article is a knife within section 141A is not a pure question of fact. Once the article’s description and characteristics have been found, its status under the statute is a question of law.
3. The magistrates’ reasons were not persuasive. A single-use article may be a knife. A curved blade may form part of a knife. The supplier’s understanding of the article was not determinative and might be irrelevant.
4. The ordinary meaning of knife was applicable. It covered a cutting instrument consisting of a blade with a sharpened longitudinal edge fixed in a handle. The grapefruit knife had a blade with two sharpened edges fixed in a handle and therefore fell within section 141A(2)(a).
5. The case was remitted because the magistrates had not determined the due-diligence defence or any other outstanding issue.

The judgment describes the underlying prosecution before the East Berkshire Justices. The magistrates dismissed the information after deciding that the grapefruit knife was not a knife within section 141A. The Administrative Court quashed that decision and remitted the case to the magistrates to continue the hearing.