MAN JAILED FOR TAKING KNUCKLE-DUSTER TO SOUTHAMPTON PROTEST
Lee James was jailed for 12 months at Southampton Crown Court on 12 August 2024 after admitting carrying a knuckle-duster at an anti-immigration demonstration. The scaffolder had taken the weapon to the protest in Grosvenor Square five days earlier.
An officer saw James among the crowd with what appeared to be the weapon. James then had his hand inside his shorts pocket. The officer told him to keep anything he was holding there and leave the area, deciding that an immediate arrest could trigger disorder.
James was later filmed being interviewed at the demonstration while handling the knuckle-duster openly. Prosecutors said he had taken it from his van before joining the gathering and told police it was for his protection. The court heard that he had read about weapons and violence at other protests.
He was subsequently arrested at his home in Southampton. At Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 10 August, the court heard that the knuckle-duster was still in his pocket when police detained him. He admitted possessing it and was remanded in custody for sentence two days later.
At that first hearing, his lawyer said he had attended out of curiosity and did not hold racist views. She said he had found the weapon at a property where he had worked and left it in his van. Her account was that, after putting it on before the protest, he had difficulty removing it.
At sentencing, Judge Christopher Parker rejected the suggestion that wearing the weapon openly was necessary for protection. He said James had not been under threat and that bringing it into the crowd created a serious risk of disorder.
His defence accepted that he had made a serious mistake and argued that custody would affect his family and the employees who depended on his business. The judge imposed the one-year prison term. The conviction concerned carrying the weapon; it was not a finding that James had struck someone with it.
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