Teen, arrested carrying two swords
Date: Oct 11, 2006 10:26 AM
PUBLICATION: Times & Transcript (Moncton)
DATE: 2006.10.11
PAGE: A1
SECTION: NEWS
BYLINE: Craig BabstockTimes & Transcript Staff
WORD COUNT: 602

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Teen tells court swords aren’t weapons; Dieppe teen, arrested carrying two swords
and a dagger while under weapons prohibition order, says they are ‘something
to decorate with”?

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A Dieppe teenager testified yesterday he didn’t think it was wrong for him to
carry three swords, despite being prohibited from possessing weapons. “I thought
it (meant) serious weapons, like pellet guns,” the 17-year-old told the court,
while testifying at his bail hearing yesterday morning. The teen can’t be named
according to Youth Criminal Justice Act, because he’s under the age of 18. But
he was arrested at gunpoint on Saturday, while walking down a Dieppe street with
a three-foot long sword in his hand. After his arrest, police found a smaller sword
in his bag, as well as a dagger. As part of a previous probation order in Quebec
that he was sentenced to 13 months ago, the boy was prohibited from possessing firearms
or any other weapons for two years. He told Judge Michael McKee in Moncton youth
court that he didn’t consider the swords weapons. “I just look at them
as something to decorate with,” said the accused. Crown prosecutor Nicole Angers
scoffed at the teenager’s claim he didn’t consider the swords weapons. “To
you, a three-foot sword is not a serious weapon?” she asked. “An 18-inch
sword? A six-inch sword?” She also didn’t believe his claim that the swords
were decorations. “If he considers these decorative weapons, why did he pull
them out during an argument?” The accused had just returned from Montreal,
where he’d spent the last few weeks, and was picked up by his mother at the
bus station. At her residence, the two got into an argument. Codiac RCMP Const.
Charles Leger testified the accused became aggressive and started kicking a door
at the home. His mother’s boyfriend grabbed him to subdue him and the boy hauled
the sword out of his bag and uttered a threat. He then left the Dieppe home with
the sword still in hand and police were called. An officer ordered him to drop the
weapon, but Leger testified the defendant didn’t respond. Seeing the sword in
his hand, she drew her gun and again ordered him to drop it, which he finally did.
He was then placed under arrest. The youth is charged with carrying a sword for
a purpose dangerous to the public peace and carrying a concealed weapon – a sword
- without holding the proper permit. Police say the swords were real, but the accused
said they’re not dangerous. “I don’t think you’d even be able to
shatter glass with it unless you put a lot of force behind it,” said the teenager,
adding when he dropped it on the pavement in front of the police officer, the handle
began to separate from the blade. McKee denied bail and remanded the youth until
Monday, when he’ll enter a plea on the charges.