Extract from Committee stage (Lords) (day 1) of the Offensive Weapons Bill - Jan 28
Tuesday, 29 January 2019 07:40
Lord Lucas (Con):...As for the general principle, this is something
we will have to chew over and come back to on Report. I am
concerned that people should know when they are committing an
offence. If you look up acetic acid, otherwise known as vinegar,
you will find that it is highly corrosive to the skin and eyes.
This is being drawn very widely; I can understand why, but when the
testing kit is published, it has to be clear what it applies to and
what it will pick up, or we have to have a...Request free trial
(Con):...As for the
general principle, this is something we will have to chew over and
come back to on Report. I am concerned that people should know when
they are committing an offence. If you look up acetic acid,
otherwise known as vinegar, you will find that it is highly
corrosive to the skin and eyes. This is being drawn very widely; I
can understand why, but when the testing kit is published, it has
to be clear what it applies to and what it will pick up, or we have
to have a defence in here that the substance was not actually a
weapon—that it contravened this, but was not capable of being used
as a weapon. If we do not, we shall give the police opportunities
which they should not have to bounce people off the wall when they
feel like it. Occasionally it happens—there is a nice little story
doing the rounds about the Humberside Police, who grilled a man for 35
minutes because he retweeted a limerick. The police can sometimes
be quite interesting in the use of their powers, and one should not
assume that they will be perfect on every occasion...
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