Man carrying home his gardening tools arrested by armed police in Manchester
Samuel Rowe, who was returning from allotment, seeking to overturn caution for possession of offensive weapon
A man who had returned home from his allotment with a trug of vegetables and gardening tools strapped to his belt was arrested by armed police, after a member of the public said they had seen “a man wearing khaki clothing and in possession of a knife”.
Samuel Rowe, 35, who works as a technical manager at a theatre, had come back from his allotment in Manchester earlier this month and decided to trim his hedge with one of his tools, a Japanese garden sickle, when police turned up on his doorstep.
“I just heard shouting behind me, and then two armed officers shouting at me to drop the knife,” he said. “And then they turned me around, pushed me up against my house, cuffed me, and then they arrested me, put me in the back of the van.”
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Rowe said police had questioned him on whether he was “planning on doing something” with the tools, and he said he was also asked to explain what an allotment was.
“[I had] to explain in very basic terms what an allotment is to this guy,” he said. “So it didn’t fill me with a lot of confidence that I was going to be let off.”
“I kept explaining that they’re gardening tools, none of the blades were on show,” Rowe added. “I said that I don’t leave [the tools] at my allotment because it’s not secure, people can break into the allotments and easily get into your shed in five minutes … they were just constantly not listening.”
