Northampton man jailed after claiming he had taken sword found hidden in his trouser leg from kids

A Northampton man has been jailed after he was caught concealing a sword in his trouser leg.

Jae Dean Franklin, previously of Northampton, was sentenced on Monday (May 15) at Northampton Crown Court after he shouted and cried when he was found guilty at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on April 6.

On February 9, just before 7.15pm, Franklin, was stopped by officers in plain-clothes in Bridge Court in Blackthorn, Northampton.

Though he initially tried to get away, he was searched and found to have a sword concealed in his left trouser leg. Franklin was subsequently arrested and charged with possession of a bladed article in a public place.

At his trial, the now 39-year-old told magistrates that he was going to post the samurai sword in a nearby amnesty box after confiscating it from a group of children. He claimed that he was on his way to get a Chinese takeaway when he saw a group of around six children aged between 10 and 13 playing with the sword. Franklin said: “I told them, do you know what would happen if the police were around the corner? They thought it was a joke. I told them I was confiscating it.”

Magistrates found Franklin to be guilty of possessing a blade in a public place after concluding that his reasons for concealing the weapon in his trousers and not informing police about the blade immediately were insufficient.

At sentencing, Franklin was sentenced to six months in prison.

Operation Revive Sergeant Scott Garbett said: “I am pleased to see Franklin handed a prison sentence and I hope it demonstrates the seriousness with which being found with a weapon of this nature is taken.

“It also goes to show that officers will not always be in uniform and will patrol in plain-clothes as well to catch offenders out.”

Operation Revive is Northamptonshire Police’s enforcement campaign that focuses on bringing the offenders of serious violence associated with Class A drug dealing and gangs to justice.

To contact the officers working on Op Revive with your community intelligence, call 101 or email [email protected].