Without Prejudice To The Generality

A ban on wheelie bins would make life so much simpler. No one ever knows which colour to throw at the Police. But Sikhs, as such, do not have an exemption from the law on knives. They are simply in the same position as tree surgeons, or as gentlemen attending the Royal Caledonian Ball. Section 139 (5) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 reads:

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4) above, it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had the article with him— 

(a) for use at work; 

(b) for religious reasons; or 

(c) as part of any national costume.

The Five Ks are equally binding on both sexes, and when John Ashby raped a Sikh woman because he had thought that she was a Muslim, then her kirpan was no use to her. It was not a tiny symbol originally, it has not always been one historically, and it may not always be one internationally, but it has always been one in Britain, where in no known case has it been used as an offensive weapon. To the charge of possession of a bladed article in a public place, Vickrum Digwa's defence was that it was a kirpan. The jury rejected that defence by convicting him of that charge. His father and brother face similar.