Man 'given no choice' over trowel arrest caution

>A man who was cautioned for carrying a bladed trowel in public has said he was given no choice but to accept the reprimand because police were unable to contact a solicitor for him.

Armed police were sent to challenge Samuel Rowe as he walked home from his allotment in Chorlton, Manchester, carrying the tool, a peeling knife and a sickle.

>The 35-year-old theatre manager said he was held for 12 hours, before being told he had to accept the caution without representation or face longer in custody.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said Mr Rowe had admitted possessing a "dagger" and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice about the law on the carrying of bladed weapons in public.

>The keen gardener said he was terrified when the armed officers, who did not draw their weapons, arrived outside his home on 3 July.

He said the officers were shouting at him to "drop the knife".

>"I said I didn't have a knife and they told me to drop the knife again," he said.

"So I dropped my Japanese hand gardening sickle and a handful of privet that I just cut off the hedge.

>"They turned me around, pushed me up against my house, handcuffed me, then put me in the back of a van."

Mr Rowe said he was questioned by police while in custody and it "felt like they'd gone out that day expecting to catch some kind of lone wolf attacker".

>"I was doing nothing wrong," he said.

"They treated me like I had been doing harm to people."

>Mr Rowe was carrying a Japanese-made trowel in its sheath, a small Japanese gardener's sickle and a peeling knife, along with a trug of vegetables.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27w9wp4e6o