Police seize knife on bus

5:26pm Friday 4th July 2008

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Falling asleep on a bus might usually only provoke a stern word or two from the bus driver at the end of the route.

However, a Hounslow man who nodded off with a kitchen knife tucked into his trousers in Kingston had a rude awakening when he was woken up and arrested by police.

�We will not tolerate this in Kingston � if you are carrying weapons, you will be caught and you will be charged. This is a standpoint we will not tire from enforcing.�

Chief Inspector Cliff Law

Lewis Connolly, 19, from Wills Crescent, was arrested on a bus in Tolworth on June 10, after police found the 15cm knife in his tracksuit bottoms.

Police officers had been flagged down by the concerned bus driver who was worried about a man sleeping.

When officers boarded the bus and tried to speak to the man, they noticed a "bulge" underneath his clothing where the knife had been concealed.

Connolly was arrested as part of Kingston police's drive to curb knife crime to conform with the Metropolitan Police initiative, Operation Blunt II.

Operation Blunt is a pan-London knife crime initiative which aims to reduce the number of knives on London's streets.

He appeared in Kingston Magistrates' Court on June 24 and pleaded guilty to possessing a knife. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and must pay £70 costs.

Chief Inspector Cliff Law from Kingston police said: "If you carry a knife, you are likely to either use it or have it used on you.

"We will not tolerate this in Kingston - if you are carrying weapons, you will be caught and you will be charged. This is a standpoint we will not tire from enforcing."

To give information on an individual you think may be carrying a weapon, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.