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+--- Thread: Tips for how to use garden knives on plants rather than police constables in the UK (/thread-8075.html)
Tips for how to use garden knives on plants rather than police constables in the UK - C C - Jan 23, 2020
Leyton machete attack: Van driver guilty of wounding PC
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-51205548
EXCERPT: A van driver who repeatedly struck a police officer with a machete during a routine traffic stop has been found guilty of wounding with intent. Muhammad Rodwan attacked PC Stuart Outten, 29, after he was pulled over in Leyton, east London, on 7 August.
The officer was badly injured and has yet to return to work. Rodwan, 56, of Luton, had claimed he was acting in self defence. He was convicted of wounding with intent but found not guilty of attempted murder. In a victim impact statement read out to the Old Bailey PC Outten said: "This incident has changed my life but I hope it has not changed the way I police."
Rodwan, who has previous convictions for rape and two other machete attacks, was also cleared by the jury of possessing an offensive weapon. [...] During his trial, Mrs Justice Carr ruled Rodwan's violent past was inadmissible despite jurors asking about previous convictions. [...]
[...] PC Outten suffered six blows to the head from a 2ft-long blade after stopping Rodwan's white van for having no insurance. The defendant said he was not aware at the time that the insurance on his van had expired 12 days earlier. ... Rodwan told jurors he did not recall punching PC Outten before he was arrested.
[...] Following the attack PC Outten said he counted himself "very lucky" to survive, saying "thankfully" his head was hard enough to withstand the onslaught. He suffered six deep wounds to the head, exposing his skull, slash wounds to his arm, several broken fingers and three severed tendons in one hand.
[...] Graphic footage from the police officer's body worn camera showed Rodwan punching the officer before grabbing a sharpened machete as Pc Outten tried to arrest him. Rodwan had claimed he had the machete in his van for his gardening work. (MORE - details)
(fiskars.com) Tips for using a machete in gardening/yard
(bigblogofgardening.com) Machete: The Greatest Multi-Purpose Garden Tool Ever
RE: Tips for how to use garden knives on plants rather than police constables in the UK - Leigha - Jan 23, 2020
I work for a firm with international offices, and chatted recently with a coworker who lives on the outskirts of London. She shared that she rarely visits London anymore, and never by herself. It's a shame what is happening there, and no one seems to care? No one being lawmakers. That said, it's not unusual legal practice to not permit a defendant's prior convictions in new trials. I believe that is also inadmissable here in the states.