“Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by police — some of them with Tasers. I could not believe what was going on. I was told to put down the weapon. It’s not a weapon. It’s a spatula.”
Taser officers swoop on man armed with ‘spatula’
This is S. Devon | Jul 31, 2009
A PARTIALLY disabled man who uses a spatula-type knife to open his mail was flabbergasted when police surrounded him on a Torquay street and ordered him to hand over his ‘offensive weapon’.
Furious Steve Gardner, who was waiting outside his St Marks Road home for some post, claimed after his surprise confrontation with the law: “It was just a spatula. It’s something you use to ice a cake.
“It’s not an offensive weapon. I don’t have full use of my hands so I need it to open my letters, put on my shoes and scratch my back.”
But police insisted after the incident on Wednesday afternoon the object seized was a customised bread knife which was effectively an offensive weapon.
Insp Jon Perry said: “It was very fortunate the person was not arrested for being in possession of such an instrument. By having it in a public place it was an offensive weapon.
“We took the view it was not in the public interest for him to be detained, although he was abusive and confrontational.
“But we did confiscate the item, which we considered to be a bread knife with the serrated edges removed and sharpened.”
He said the incident happened as officers were searching for a parcel delivery van which had just been stolen in the area.
He confirmed some officers at the scene were armed with Taser electric shock guns, which were not used.
Steve, 55 and an unemployed salesman, said a neck injury had left him with only partial use of his hands.
He said: “I was just an innocent bystander on a street corner waiting for my ex-landlord to bring me mail from my old address.
“I use the spatula to open my letters. It’s also used as a shoe horn and to scratch my back.
“Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by police — some of them with Tasers. I could not believe what was going on. I was told to put down the weapon. It’s not a weapon. It’s a spatula.”
He admitted there was a ‘heated exchange’ between him and the police.
He added: “Of course I was angry. Who wouldn’t be? I think the police made a mistake. They didn’t arrest me because I’d done nothing wrong.”
He hoped his spatula would be returned because it was on the inventory of the flat he’d just moved into.
Aftermath News 
This is a pathetic reaction by the so called ‘police’.
This poor man needed to use his spatula for his disability. Yet the ‘police’ seem to over react.
I really have nothing to say about the ‘police’ but they certainly are not worth while calling out upon in any incidences that may occur and yes I have been a victim of crime many years back and nothing was done about it. Also I had a problem with someone in my street not so long ago whereas this person had committed a public order offence – nothing was done by the ‘police’.
Now I read this about the bunch of cowards threatening and bullying (with their own weapons -that shouldn’t have been legal in the first place!) an innocent member of the public who happens to use a tool they call an ‘offensive weapon’ it is high time the ‘police’ were sent back to school and made to stand outside the headmaster’s office for caning, obviously these children of yesteryear had either a bad upbringing or bad education. As far as I know to join the ‘police’ you need a qualification of around 2% of IQ and medically checked for dead brain cells (MUST have 95% more dead brain cells than any other living person!)
I have no respect for these people at all.
The Bobbies of old were respected and actually liked as fellow members of the community because they earned that respect. They were generally polite, compassionate, truly helpful, level-headed, and performed their duties within what was once reasonable law. But all that’s gone now.
These blokes are a far cry from yesteryear, but they themselves are only partially responsible, being products of social engineering. The political culture has created these monsters, and for a purpose which we see unfolding daily, ie the creation of a dystopian New World Order predicted by Orwell and others.