Violent Crime Reduction Bill

moved Amendment No. 116A:"Page 26, line 6, after ““he”” insert ““intentionally””" The noble Lord said: In moving this amendment, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 117A and 117B. We are moving to Part 2 and dangerous weapons. We on these Benches support the new offence of using someone to mind a weapon. There are many cases of which I am personally aware where weapons have been concealed in an attempt to evade the forces of law and order. All I am seeking to do with these amendments is to inquire what the mens rea of this offence is to be, which is why we seek to introduce the word ““intentionally””. I also criticise the words in subsection 2(b):"““or be likely to involve or to lead to””." Those are very vague words for a criminal offence punishable either by four years in the case of a knife or 10 years for a firearm. We seek to tighten up the offence by including the words:"““or is intended by him to be used in the course of the commission of an offence””." These are probing amendments, and I await the Minister’s response.