40CAUnauthorised possession in prison of knife or offensive weapon

1

A person who, without authorisation, is in possession of an article specified in subsection (2) inside a prison is guilty of an offence.

2

The articles referred to in subsection (1) are—

a

any article that has a blade or is sharply pointed;

b

any other offensive weapon (as defined in section 1(9) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984).

3

In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for the accused to show that—

a

he reasonably believed that he had authorisation to be in possession of the article in question, or

b

in all the circumstances there was an overriding public interest which justified his being in possession of the article.

4

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

a

on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or to a fine (or both);

b

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine (or both).

5

In this section “authorisation” means authorisation given for the purposes of this section; and subsections (1) to (3) of section 40E apply in relation to authorisations so given as they apply to authorisations given for the purposes of section 40D.