Bulwell officers found a samurai sword in a house after arresting someone on suspicion of dangerous driving.
Police were on patrol and travelling down Commercial Road when they spotted a motorbike rider who aroused their suspicions.
After approaching the individual and ordering them to stop, they reportedly responded by doing a burnout and riding away at speed up Latham Street.
The rider then turned the bike around and was seen to kick the door of one of the police cars in attendance before again speeding off down Commercial Road and out of sight.
This happened around 9.50pm on Tuesday (20 May), with response officers then conducting inquiries that resulted in them identifying a property in Bulwell where the rider could’ve gone.
Police immediately located the motorbike involved in the earlier incident when they attended the house in Nine Acre Gardens, with checks later revealing the vehicle had been reported stolen.
That wasn’t the only discovery made by officers while they were at the property though, as they located a suspect before then spotting and seizing a samurai sword from inside the house too.
Samurai swords are among a selection of weapons that are illegal for anyone to keep in a private setting, such as a house, anywhere in the UK, under the Offensive Weapons Act.
The weapon seizure was also well-timed, due to Sceptre – the national anti-knife crime campaign – currently underway and running throughout the entirety of this week.
A 24-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, possessing an offensive weapon in a private place, theft of a motor vehicle, failing to stop, causing criminal damage, and driving while disqualified.
Inspector Paul Ferguson, neighbourhood inspector for Nottingham’s City North, said:
“I’d like to commend the Oxclose Lane and Bulwell R4 response team for the fantastic work they did on this job.
“They really exemplified the proactive approach I want all our officers to follow while out on patrol by getting out and about in targeted hotspot areas to spot suspicious behaviour first hand and take action.
“In this case, they were in position to respond to the situation as it developed to ultimately arrest a suspect for a multitude of different offences.
“This included dangerous driving, after a motorbike rider was seen to do a burnout in the street, before speeding up and down a road.
“The response team in attendance were ultimately able to track down a suspect soon afterwards at an address, where they also found and seized a samurai sword.
“These types of swords are among a shortlist of offensive weapons, like knuckledusters and zombie knives, that are illegal for anyone to store in their homes or in another private setting in the UK.
“There is no excuse for anyone to own these types of dangerous weapons, so we’d encourage anyone who does have one to dispose of them in any of the knife amnesty bins located inside our police stations.
“Two amnesty bins have been set up in the City North for Sceptre this week inside our stations in Bulwell and Oxclose Lane, with the Bestwood-based bin available for use all year-round.
“Please make use of this offering and dispose of any bladed weapons you have into these amnesty bins. It’s not a trick and you won’t get into trouble if you do so.”
