Overview

• On July 3, armed Greater Manchester Police officers responding to a 999 call about a “knifeman in khaki” detained Rowe as he walked home from his Chorlton allotment with sheathed gardening implements.
• He was held in custody for up to 12 hours and told that refusing a conditional caution without legal representation would extend his detention.
• GMP says it lawfully seized a Niwaki Hori Hori weeding trowel, a Japanese Ice Bear sickle and a peeling knife and made multiple attempts to contact a solicitor on his behalf.
• Rowe worries the caution could appear on standard and enhanced DBS checks and harm his prospects of working with vulnerable adults.
• The case has highlighted legal ambiguity over what constitutes a “good reason” for carrying bladed articles and prompted manufacturers to advise gardeners to keep sheathed tools out of sight in public.