Blade left in handbag led to court case
A Bulgarian mother fears for her ability to remain in the UK postBrexit after being found with a plastic-covered knife at a shopping centre, a court heard. Silviya Pavlova was arrested for an unrelated matter at TJ Hughes in The Mall, Maidstone, on December 18 when a small purple kitchen knife, with a 3.35in blade, was found inside her handbag.
The 53-year-old told officers she wasn’t from England and wasn’t aware carrying such an item was illegal, saying it was: “Only a thin, small knife, not a butcher’s knife”.
Geoff Playford, defending, told the court the blade had been bought a week or two before the offence for kitchen use, but Pavolva forgot it was in her bag when she grabbed it to go shopping.
“There’s no suggestion she got the knife out or did anything with it,” he said.
“As a result of the shenanigans of Brexit, she’s got to apply for residence status to remain, and her case can’t be dealt with until this matter is resolved.” Pavlova, from Essex, pleaded guilty through a translator, to possessing a blade in a public place.
She was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £105.
District judge Paul Goldspring said it was unfortunate there was a difference in the law in what was allowed in Bulgaria. He added: “The risk to the public is practically zero because it had a plastic cover on it - people who use knives for nefarious purposes don’t do that.” A memorandum of conviction will be sent to the Home Office clarifying the case’s outcome, the court was told.