Is tough guy Tom Hardy’s bodyguard carrying an illegal knife in his tweeds?
HE might be known for his tough-guy image but Tom Hardy has a bodyguard who seems to be just as menacing as any of his movie roles.
Known as Royal Marine John, Hardy’s heavy appeared to have an illegal knife strapped to his hip as he escorted his boss through a crowd this week.
The minder, who is also nicknamed Big John and has worked for the actor for at least two years, had several tools tucked under his trademark tweed jacket, which were left in full view of cameras when it fell open.
Hardy was surrounded by fans and paparazzi as he left the party following Thursday’s UK premiere of The Revenant, for which he has picked up his first Oscar nomination. One bystander said the bodyguard used a torch to try to distract photographers outside the exclusive Groucho Club in London’s Soho.
‘Apparently he thought it could affect the quality of the pictures,’ the onlooker said. ‘It was one of those small, highpowered LED torches, about 6in long, held in a pouch on his waist.’
But the owner of one London closeprotection company said that it would be ‘madness’ for the bodyguard to
‘It would be ludicrous’
carry what appears to be a lock knife as well. ‘He could have good reasons for holding [the small torch],’ he said. ‘The other item has the shape and appearance of a lock knife and that would be clearly illegal.
‘You can’t go around with something like that. It would be ludicrous.’
It is a criminal offence to carry an offensive weapon – an article with a blade or sharp point such as scissors – ‘without lawful authority or good reason’. Anyone who does could get up to six months in prison and a £5,000 fine.
The only exception is for a ‘folding pocket knife’ with a blade less than 3in long. In other cases, an individual can argue that they held the item lawfully if it is for use in their work, for religious reasons or, unusually, it is part of their national costume.
It is thought unlikely that police would act on the photographs alone because they are not definitive evidence that the object is a knife.
Despite Big John’s nickname, it is not known whether he served in the Marines, although Hardy has trained with the troops for roles.
A spokesman for Hardy, who last year starred as both of the Kray twins in film Legend and welcomed a son with wife Charlotte Riley, declined to comment.