Jail time for turning in found shotgun (Merged)

[natticarry]

It sounds like there is stupidity rampant amoung all parties. Once I discovered the gun I would think it was discarded after it had been used in a crime so I would not have touched the bin (not sure if this means trash can or Tupperware, Brits and their slang) anymore let alone the firearm itself for fear of contaminating any evidence. All of that being said his good intentions are clear. Unfortunately laws like this do exist here in America, but I would think that even if the jury was instructed by the judge to ignore the suspects intentions nine times out of ten they would find the person not guilty anyway knowing that the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[oldogy]

Idiots, all; The country, the legislative bodies that enact such legislation, the subjects who allow such legislation. We best be on watch here in America or we'll see such trampling of our constitution as amended and our rights.
oldogy

[nutz4utwo]

Laws as such and cases like this only encourage people to do nothing in the face of crime. Why should they put themselves at risk when they can walk away and ignore the issue.

Try and do the right thing? Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and go to jail.

[retsupt99]

Yep, Britian seems pretty screwed up, and we could have the same thing over here if we don't get out and VOTE!

[ccw9mm]

If it was as the defendant claimed ... What was he supposed to do, leave the gun there for the next child who happened to stroll by?

Apparently so, since the "crime" of touching such a thing is being taken as the owner/possessor/wielder of such a thing, truth and justice be damned.

So, is being a good Samaritan or engaging in an upstanding and decent act going to become extinct in the U.K. What upstanding, decent citizen would dare traverse the mine field that the government seeks to impose on its subjects.

I wonder ... did the U.S. war of independence in the late 1700's start in this fashion, with such examples of relatively small petty acts and legal actions by the constabulary, DA's and other authorities?

[goawayfarm]

I agree with Janq. He should have called and said "look what I found", and let the police do the rest.

That said, they should apply some common sense here and realize what was going on, and cut some slack.

That won't work either!

I read a story in the last couple of weeks where a man found a firearm in his yard. He called the 'bobbies' & was told they wouldn't come get it...they told him him to bring it to them!

I'll look for the link......

[Pikachu711]

This story reminds me of a local story a few years ago here in Vegas. This isn't the same subject as the thread but it has the same theme.

One day a Las Vegas resident was driving behind a police car. The police car was being driven by a "bike" LEO. The bike rack on the back of the car held the officers bike. He was returning from his duty while riding his official police bike earlier that day.

The resident noticed that the bicycle on the bike rack was becoming loose & might fall off of the bike rack. The resident started flashing his car headlights, beeping his car horn attempting to get the LEO's attention. Nothing was working and eventually the bike DID fall off the bike rack and landed in the roadway. The resident then stopped his car and picked up the police bicycle and put it in the trunk of his car.

When he arrived home he called the local police. He told the police the story of how the police bicycle had fallen off the police car & that he had picked it up off the roadway.

The LEO with whom he was speaking with told him that possession of police equipment was a crime for which he could be arrested & prosecuted. Again he tried to explain to the officer the circumstances how he came to have the police bike in his car trunk. He was again advised that it was a crime to possess police property. The officer told the resident that he was sending a LEO to pick up the police bicycle at the residents home.

When the LEO arrived at the residents home the LEO again advised resident that he could be arrested & prosecuted for possession of police property. The LEO departed with the bicycle on the back of his car. The resident was never thanked for attempting to return the police bicycle.

No good deed goes unpunished! I'm know not all police departments have this attitude toward citizens trying to do the right thing. Maybe the LEO with whom he was speaking was having a bad day. The resident was just trying to do the right thing!

[Guns and more]

Have you ever been to the UK? People are great, but things are, um....different.
I once wondered why the revolutionary war lasted so long when you see how they do things.

But don't feel superior, that's coming here real soon.

"Bin liner" = trash bag. You need the English to English dictionary every so often over there.

[lazy]

This guy was screwed from the git go. if the "bin was at the bottom of his garden". Thats his Property? Thats were possession started,
call the cops get busted.
take it to cops get busted.
might as well have kept it.

[Hopyard]

This guy was screwed from the git go. if the "bin was at the bottom of his garden". Thats his Property? Thats were possession started,
call the cops get busted.
take it to cops get busted.
might as well have kept it.

I'll try to remember that next time I find $500,000 on my lawn.

[kazzaerexys]

It is unbelievable to read "that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge".

Of course he has a defense, and that is the Doctrine of Competing Harms which is part of the Common Law. That is the doctrine that says that under rare circumstances following the law causes more harm than breaking it. That is always a possible defense.

Moronic legal system and moronic solicitor. Gah.

[wmhawth]

Well you should give a hoot,the crap across the pond is on it's way to you!
Your liberals are very much in bed with ours, just look at how things are playing out in Washington...Where do you think they get their ideas from?? Not from their own limited wit I can tell you...No it's the whack jobs running the UK that fill their feeble minds of how they can control the people, how they can increase government control on even more of your life.

We have a saying over here " If its happening in the US it will be happening here before long"

Pretty sure this saying works both ways, be on your guard and do care about what happens here, if only to make sure it's not in your back yard next.

Tint Bob (UK)

I wish you were wrong but you're not. We'd be foolish to ignore the power of the gun grabbers anywhere with the false notion that it can't happen here.

[billdeserthills]

It's too bad, but being in the wrong place at the right time there exists a stiff penalty for being stupid without a permit. Guy shoulda never touched it, no telling whose fingerprints he has obliterated. In England it would be best to follow Eddie Eagle rules:
Stop, Don't Touch, Call an Adult. Really, I think it's too bad that Geo. Soros' whore, Rebecca Peters has found a way for entire countries to legally be able to tell their citizens they cannot defend themselves, but Britishers are apparently even worse off than the poor folks still living in Californy. Can't waste much time worrying about them, they aren't even in my country.

[tinkerinWstuff]

My dad was burglarized last year. He ended up finding out "who done it" and gave the information to the police. The police confronted the guy who folded right away like cheap lawn furniture.

They gave him the option to bring everything to the cop-shop and turn it all in.

The perp did just that and along with the tools and fishing stuff, he brought the loaded 22-250 to the police station and turned it in.

He had a prior record and I don't know that he's gone to jail yet for this crime. The cops weren't interested in arresting him for the loaded 22-250 and I don't know that he was charged with the felony of stealing a firearm.

Dad is at his whits end with the police dept and the DA.

[socal2310]

Hopyard,

Our due process laws mean that strict liability is generally reserved for very minor criminal offenses and civil cases in the U.S. For example, in states with three levels of crime - infraction, misdemeanor and felony - almost all infractions and many minor misdemeanors are strict liability offenses - it would be almost impossible to convict people for speeding (sans confession) if the state had to prove that the defendant saw the speed limit sign. Likewise, since most of us don't carry around breathalyzer kits, it would be very difficult to enforce drunk driving laws without strict liability (I personally feel that strict liability should be eliminated for that, since the vast majority of drunk driving accidents resulting in injury and death involve people who are at least twice the legal limit and mens rea would be relatively easy to prove).

The only felony that I can think of where mens rea need not be proved is statutory rape which is a strict liability crime in 22 states.

Ryan