THE prosecution of a man for having a machete in his Carlisle home has been dropped – thanks to the intervention of a BBC Antiques Roadshow expert.

Police charged 38-year-old Wayne Thompson with the offence of “possessing an offensive weapon in a private place” after officers who visited his home found that he had a machete under the settee in his living room.

A trial date was set after Mr Thompson, of Miller’s Close, Carlisle, denied wrongdoing, arguing that there was nothing illegal about the 51cm long machete.

To support his claim in court, local defence lawyer John Smith commissioned a report from the renowned weapons expert Bill Harriman, who has been regularly appearing on the Antiques Roadshow since 1986.

He had been due to give evidence in the trial but had to pull out shortly before it was due to start due to the illness of a colleague, the court heard.

Prosecuting lawyer George Shelley asked magistrates to adjourn the case so that the prosecution could commission its own expert report.

But Mr Smith argued against this, pointing out that the Crown Prosecution Service were first informed of Mr Harriman’s report since July 20 and yet had failed to hire a rival expert to challenge his opinions.

Magistrates heard that the defendant’s machete was found when police visited his home on May 7, finding it under a settee in his living room.

Ordinarily, weapons prosecutions are pursued when the defendant has taken the item into a public place but for a limited range of “specified weapons” – including swords with curved blades – it can be a criminal offence to have them in a private dwelling.

In his report, Mr Harriman spelled out that the words “sword” and “machete” are not interchangeable. He defined the latter as a singled edged tool that is used legally for legitimate agricultural purposes.

By contrast, a sword is among the weapons specified as being potentially illegal to have in his private dwelling. Delivering their ruling, magistrates noted that the facts of the case were agreed by both lawyers.

It was clearly a case that depended on expert opinions.

The presiding magistrate noted that the case hinged on expert evidence and the necessity for the prosecution to challenge the defence expert Mr Harriman. He added: “We will hear the case today as a delay is not in the interests of justice.”

In the light of that decision, Mr Shelley said that he would offer no evidence in the case and so the charge was dismissed.

Mr Harriman has long been recognised as an authority on 'Arms and Militaria' and he is now Director of Firearms for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. 

He is also an accredited forensic practitioner and a member of the Academy of Experts and the Forensic Science Society. In 2002, he was appointed to the Home Office Reference Panel for historical firearms.