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UK: Woman escapes conviction for carrying a knife - after she was spotted handling a sausage
The Evening Standard (U.K.) ^
| June 4, 2008
Posted on 06/03/2008 9:29:10 PM PDT by Stoat
Woman escapes conviction for carrying a knife - after she was spotted handling a sausage
Last updated at 01:34am on 04.06.08
![sausage](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/06/03/article-1023970-0085BF8900000258-828_233x423.jpg)
Banger: A humble sausage saved the day for market stall worker Jane Bellas, 29
A woman facing up to four years in jail for having a kitchen knife in her car was saved - by a sausage.
As Jane Bellas runs a fast food stall and has to slice bread rolls, she knew she had a legitimate reason for having the knife. But she was unable to prove her occupation to the satisfaction of the authorities.
It left the 29-year-old market trader being dragged through the legal system in a four-month ordeal that ended only when she appeared before a Crown Court judge this week.
It was revealed that she had been seen with a sausage in her hand at the market where she works in Penrith, Cumbria - and only then was it finally accepted that she did indeed run the stall and therefore had a valid reason to have the knife.
Miss Bellas was on her way home from work when she was stopped by police near her home in Penrith in January after officers noticed the knife in her car.
She was charged with having a knife in a public place without good reason, which carries a maximum four years' imprisonment.
Until this week, her lawyers had tried in vain to get the local council to provide proof that she had a licence to operate the stall.
The breakthrough came at Carlisle Crown Court when Tim Evans, prosecuting, told Judge Barbara Forrester of the crucial evidence which had come to light only that morning.
'There had been a complaint against the runner of this particular business that they had been tinkering with a generator while handling a sausage.
'The environmental health team at Penrith took it very seriously and investigated, finding that the person running the business was Miss Bellas. She was plainly associated with the catering business.'
Miss Bellas was formally found not guilty and given £10 to cover her travelling expenses.
One experienced local defence lawyer, John Smith, said the case was 'symptomatic'.
'There's a lack of common sense in the way that laws are being enforced,' he said.
'If they had looked into this in more detail at an earlier stage, it might have been resolved sooner.'
The case is estimated to have cost around £2,000.
TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: bang; banger; britain; england; greatbritain; knife; sausage; uk; unitedkingdom
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To: DeFault User
Baloney, I can do far worse!
21
posted on
06/03/2008 10:10:32 PM PDT
by
null and void
(Bureaucracies are stupid. They grow larger linearly; they grow stupider exponentially.)
To: neodad
Friends don't let friends tinker with a generator while handling a sausage.
Indeed. One may end-up with a damaged crank...
22
posted on
06/03/2008 10:10:41 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(Four fried chickens and a coke)
To: null and void
Do you want to scrapple about it?
To: RobinOfKingston
Bureaucracies are stupid. They grow larger linearly; they grow stupider exponentially.From the article:
Miss Bellas was on her way home from work when she was stopped by police near her home in Penrith in January after officers noticed the knife in her car.
So, are we to understand that she perhaps had a knife visible, perhaps lying on one of the seats....perhaps she is taking it home because it's an expensive Chef's knife and she didn't want to leave it at work for fear of theft.
So then it's on a seat and she's perhaps stopped at an intersection, and a foot patrol officer peers into her vehicle, becomes alarmed at the sight of a knife and stops her car.
Or, perhaps the car was parked in a lot near the market where she works, and a policeman notices the knife inside or a nosy, hysterical passerby calls in a complaint. The car is watched, perhaps for several hours until she returns to it, whereupon she discovers her 'criminality'.
And then it becomes her obligation to prove that she has a legitimate reason to have it.
And because of the type of work that she does, getting ironclad employment verification is difficult, and so the case drags on for FOUR MONTHS.
It left the 29-year-old market trader being dragged through the legal system in a four-month ordeal
Just astonishing.
24
posted on
06/03/2008 10:16:19 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: DeFault User
Nahhhh.
I'll let you be the big head cheese...
25
posted on
06/03/2008 10:16:52 PM PDT
by
null and void
(Bureaucracies are stupid. They grow larger linearly; they grow stupider exponentially.)
To: null and void
To: DeFault User; null and void
That’s enough.
I want to meat ya both at high noon!
27
posted on
06/03/2008 10:22:38 PM PDT
by
Grizzled Bear
("Does not play well with others.")
To: ETL
It was revealed that she had been seen with a sausage in her hand at the market where she works in Penrith, Cumbria - and only then was it finally accepted that she did indeed run the stall and therefore had a valid reason to have the knife.Whew! I thought it might be another Loraina Bobbit-like story!
Thankfully for all of the gents in her vicinity, there's no indication of any emasculative intent on her part. She merely made the mistake of assuming that she might be able to bring a tool of her trade home, perhaps for safekeeping, perhaps for sharpening.
28
posted on
06/03/2008 10:27:16 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Grizzled Bear
I admire a bear with true grit(s).
To: rfp1234
UK? Is that where Lorena Bobbitt ended up?Considering that I'm a male stoat, I realize now that I should have taken considerably greater care in tracking Lorena's movements. I have no idea at all where she is, and that now troubles me greatly.
30
posted on
06/03/2008 10:30:08 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: DeFault User
It sounds like we're gonna get grilled...
31
posted on
06/03/2008 10:31:37 PM PDT
by
null and void
(Bureaucracies are stupid. They grow larger linearly; they grow stupider exponentially.)
To: Stoat
I repeat: WHEW!!
BTW: thanks to a previous posting, I realized I mispelled her name. I wrote "Loraina" Bobbit. Should have been "Lorena".
32
posted on
06/03/2008 10:35:21 PM PDT
by
ETL
To: null and void
Yup, I suspect he could smoke us both.
To: Stoat; rfp1234
34
posted on
06/03/2008 10:40:03 PM PDT
by
ETL
To: DeFault User
35
posted on
06/03/2008 10:40:47 PM PDT
by
null and void
(Bureaucracies are stupid. They grow larger linearly; they grow stupider exponentially.)
To: null and void; DeFault User
What have I done to deserve this roasting?
36
posted on
06/03/2008 10:41:33 PM PDT
by
Grizzled Bear
("Does not play well with others.")
To: ETL
I realized I mispelled her name. I wrote "Loraina" Bobbit. Should have been "Lorena". If she reads this thread, your correction and attention to detail will most likely cause her to be "slightly" less likely to follow you home and practice her 'specialty' upon you...
With that in mind, may I say that I find Lorena to be an utterly magnificent human being who casts sunshine upon every path she walks.
37
posted on
06/03/2008 10:41:57 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: ETL
From the Wikipedia page that you so kindly linked to:
Lorena Gallo (Bobbitt)
After the trial, Lorena was treated as a feminist "hero",[3] though she attempted to keep a low profile and resumed the use of her maiden name. In December 1997, Lorena made news when she was charged with assault for punching her mother, Elvia Gallo, as they watched television.[13] She was eventually found guilty of assaulting her mother. As of 2007 she is employed in the Ashburn, Virginia area as a hair stylist.[14]
***************************
<<< making a mental note to avoid the Ashburn, Virginia area whenever I need a haircut or a date.......
38
posted on
06/03/2008 10:45:39 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: DeFault User
I hope this stops before it goes any furter.
To: Attention Surplus Disorder; null and void; DeFault User; Grizzled Bear
Frankly, my guess would be that we’re banging along just fine and the thread is just getting heated up.....
40
posted on
06/03/2008 10:55:54 PM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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