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Swiss Army knife leads ex-police chief to fall foul of his old force
By ANDY DOLAN - » Last updated at 00:09am on 9th March 2007
As a keen hiker, Brian Seaton was delighted to receive a Swiss Army Knife as a retirement gift from his colleagues in the force.
But the former chief inspector ended up back in the arms of the law after he tried to take it on a walking holiday in Spain.
His one-time comrades in the Leicestershire force questioned him and he was taken to court charged with possessing a knife in public without good reason.
Mr Seaton, 63, was dragged through the courts in a case that lasted nine months at a cost to the taxpayer of up to £10,000.
Mr Seaton, a policeman for more than 20 years until his retirement in 1996, said yesterday: 'I can't believe this ever went so far. It's a farce.'
His ordeal began as he boarded a flight to Majorca at East Midlands airport last June.
Security staff, who were on heightened alert for potential trouble-makers heading to the World Cup, found the three-inch knife in Mr Seaton's hand luggage, Leicester Magistrates' Court heard.
It was inside his washbag, which he had transferred to his carry-on bag after check-in staff told him his suitcase was too heavy.
He had forgotten the knife was there but it was spotted in an X-ray scan during a security check.
Mr Seaton immediately handed it over and assumed the matter was closed. But when he tried to reclaim it at Loughborough police station on his return from Spain, he found that his troubles were just beginning.
He was told officers wanted to interview him, and he agreed to be questioned but refused a formal caution.
A file was passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decided there was enough evidence to prosecute Mr Seaton. The father of two said: 'When I found out what was happening I couldn't believe it.'
He was finally cleared on Wednesday after District Judge David Meredith heard he needed the knife to open tins and cut food while hiking in the mountains.
The judge said: 'It was a good reason. That good reason is not invalidated because you suddenly enter a certain part of the airport.'
Mr Seaton of Markfield, Leicester, said: 'There have been a number of court hearings, a pretrial review, an audience with the district judge and then the trial.
'It has been hanging around for nine months, and I'm not sure that it has been a good use of public money.
'Now I'm just glad it's over.' Mr Seaton's solicitor, David Leigh, last night estimated the cost of bringing the case to trial to be between £5,000 and £10,000.
He added 'All along it has been difficult to see the case to answer here, but the CPS has continued with this.'
Mr Seaton's MP, David Tredinnick, said the case was an example of the 'law being an ass'.
The Tory MP for Bosworth added: 'It seems strange that a retired chief inspector would be prosecuted when he clearly intended to go walking and had a valid explanation for carrying the knife.
'A reasonable person would have assumed he had made a reasonable mistake and it is regrettable that this case went as far as it did.'
The knife was returned to Mr Seaton immediately after the case.
Leicestershire Police said: 'Officers conducted a thorough investigation into the alleged offence and the evidence gathered was then put before the Crown Prosecution Service.'
Leicestershire CPS said the case was brought in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, and that it believed there were grounds to prosecute with a realistic prospect of conviction.
A Swiss Army Knife? Isn't that the least threatening knife known to man?
It's weird how they didn't charge him with trying to take it on the plane, just having it.
