Briton goes to prison for walking through city center with Zelda sword
A British man ran through Nuneaton with a knife-like replica of the Master Sword from Zelda. Now he has to spend four months in prison.
A British man walked through Nuneaton city center with this 15-centimeter-long knife.
(Image: Warwickshire Police)
A 48-year-old British man has been sentenced to prison for walking a replica of the famous Master Sword from the Zelda series through the town center of Nuneaton in the UK. Warwickshire Police have reported this. In addition to his four-month prison sentence, he must pay the equivalent of 180 euros in fines.
According to photos taken by Warwickshire Police, the replica of Link's well-known video game sword was a 15 cm long knife in a sheath. The knife could be removed from the sheath by pressing a button. The 48-year-old was visibly carrying the knife in his hand and was noticed by a surveillance camera on June 8 before he was confronted and arrested by officers. In the UK, people are only allowed to carry pocket knives with a blade length of up to 7.6 cm without a special permit.
Knife or fidget toy?
The British man had argued that the knife was a "fidget toy", i.e., a fidget toy to calm nervous fingers. According to Warwickshire Police, however, the object had a sharp blade that could have been used as a weapon. It is not known where the British man acquired the item. The 48-year-old was sentenced at a court in Leamington Spa on June 28.
"It is possible to find a Fidget Toy that is not made of six-inch blades", police officer Sgt. Spellman is quoted as saying in the release. "It's also possible to not walk down the street with them and hold them in front of you." The man is not a cosplayer and was not wearing the item as part of a costume.
The high sentence is probably also due to the 48-year-old British man's criminal history: The man was previously sentenced to four years in prison in 2011 for several burglaries in Nuneaton, reports Forbes. According to the Coventry Telegraph, he already had to regularly appear in court in the 1990s for various legal violations.
(dahe)