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Telegraph
5 days ago
- Telegraph
Armed police arrest gardener over his arsenal of allotment tools
Armed police arrested a gardener for 'carrying a knife' as he walked home with his allotment tools. Samuel Rowe, 35, was detained, kept in a cell and cautioned after being accused of carrying a ' large dagger ' last month. He had just tended to his allotment vegetable patch and was trimming the hedges outside his home with a sickle when armed police swooped on July 3. His Japanese gardening trowel, a sickle and a fruit harvesting tool were confiscated before he was taken to a police station. He was then held in a cell for more than seven hours before he was released when he accepted a caution for possession of an offensive weapon. The theatre manager said he was left terrified when officers armed with guns turned up outside his home and now wants the caution overturned. 'Some kind of extremist' Mr Rowe, of Manchester, said: 'I was coming back from my allotment in the morning. 'I'd just got home and started trimming the hedge at the top of my house, and then I heard shouting and it was armed police – two armed police telling me to 'drop the knife.' 'At the time I had my Japanese gardening sickle in my hand that I was using, so I dropped that along with the privet I'd been cutting. 'Then they turned me around, pushed me up against the house, handcuffed me behind my back, took everything out my belt. 'Then they asked me why I was there and where I'd been. 'Eventually they put me in the back of their van and took me to Cheadle Hulme police station, which is miles from my house. 'They got into their head I was some kind of extremist going out with knives.' Conflicting accounts He said he was then kept in cells and asked if he wanted a solicitor, but he never got to see one. At interview, he says police asked him bizarre questions such as what an allotment was. He has been growing fruit and veg – including rhubarb, broad beans, artichokes, and tomatoes, at his allotment since 2022. Now, he is worried that the police caution he accepted will appear on background checks if he applies for future job interviews. Greater Manchester Police said firearms officers were sent as they were the closest to the scene after they were alerted by a member of the public. The force denies Samuel was ever refused legal advice, saying it tried multiple times to contact a solicitor and he chose to decline legal advice in the end. A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: 'At around 12.20pm on 3 July, we acted on a call from a member of the public that a man was walking in public wearing khaki clothing and in possession of a knife. 'Nearby officers were flagged down by the caller, who directed them towards a male. 'He was subsequently stopped and a small sickle, a large dagger which was in a sheath on a belt, and a peeling knife, were seized. 'He was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and taken into custody. 'He admitted the offence and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice and guidance around the legislation of knives and bladed weapons in a public place.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Gardener arrested over 'dagger' trowel on his belt
A man returning home from his allotment found himself surrounded by armed police – because of a gardening tool on his Rowe was wearing a Japanese bladed trowel in a sheath on his hip as he got back to his house in Chorlton, as he was pruning his hedge, police arrived and Mr Rowe was handcuffed, arrested, and then put in a cell for 12 Manchester Police (GMP) said it had cautioned him for possessing a "dagger", but the 35-year-old theatre manager said he felt like he had no choice but to accept the reprimand so he could go home. Handcuffed Mr Rowe said he had been terrified when the armed officers – who did not draw their weapons – arrived outside his home on 3 said they were "shouting at me to drop the knife"."I said I didn't have a knife and they told me to drop the knife again."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," he said. Mr Rowe said he was then taken into custody where he was questioned by police."It felt like they'd gone out that day expecting to catch some kind of lone wolf attacker," he said."I was doing nothing 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 said the peeling knife was his late grandmother's, that he'd bought the sickle a decade ago, and that the trowel – which has a short blade and wooden handle – was a Rowe said he was not aware of any warnings about carrying the tools in since his arrest, one has appeared on the manufacturer's tells customers "to familiarise themselves with offensive weapons law before carrying the tool in public", adding: "We strongly advise that you keep this tool concealed, sheathed, and out of sight in public places – preferably in a gardening bag or toolbox rather than on your belt." 'Large dagger' Mr Rowe said he had gone without any legal representation while in custody because officers had been unable to contact a solicitor for accepted a conditional caution, but said he was now worried it could affect his job as a technical manager at a theatre, where he sometimes had to work with vulnerable young are given to people on the basis that they admit an offence, but do not count as a criminal simple cautions are spent as soon as they are accepted, but others could be flagged up on standard and enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) checks."I don't believe I committed a crime," he said, adding he was worried the caution could affect future employment opportunities, and calling for it to be added that he understood the police had a job to do but was now scared to continue with what had been a lifelong said officers were responding to a call that they had seen a man with a knife."He was subsequently stopped and a small sickle, a large dagger which was in a sheath on a belt, and a peeling knife, were seized," the force said."He admitted the offence and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice and guidance around the legislation of knives and bladed weapons in a public place." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
