My Christmas of crime

I have just committed a crime which could shortly land me a five year prison sentence! This morning I carried a woodsaw back to my neighbor 2 doors down having used it to trim down the Christmas tree. Under proposals to bring in a minimum sentence of 5 years imprisonment for anyone carrying a knife, borrowing sharp implements from your neighbour's could well become a high risk activity. Lest anyone thinks I am exaggerating there is already a case pending against a former investment banker who was found to have a Swiss Army knife in his briefcase after a random search of his car. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/11/28/do2802.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/11/28/ixop.html .

There have been a series of tragic incidents involving the use of knives recently and there is no doubt something should be done. But a mandatory 5 year sentence for anyone found carrying a knife could see fisherman, campers and many more thrown into prison. What is needed are long mandatory sentence, without parole, for those who carry out crimes with knives or who inflict injuries on members of the public with them.