A 47-year-old DJ was found to be wearing knuckledusters at a Spalding nightclub, magistrates at Boston have been told.
The DJ, Darren Barnes of Stoke Golding, Nuneaton in Leicestershire, was compering the event at the XO Nightclub in Westlode Street on December 15 when, in the early hours just as he was completing his set, one of the assistant managers was told he had a knuckleduster and was “acting strangely”.
Prosecutor Jim Clare said the manager approached Barnes and he told her that a customer had been “playing with his equipment” and that he wanted that person removed.
He said Barnes appeared to be “very angry” and was “clutching and unclutching his fists” and she could see he was wearing a knuckleduster.
Mr Clare said security staff attended and at that time he could be seen to be wearing knuckledusters on both hands.
He said police were informed and he was arrested, explaining that he had bought the knuckledusters on the online auction site Ebay.
Mitigating, Tony Davies said Barnes had bought the knuckledusters as bottle openers and cable trimmers and he had forgotten he had them in his pocket from the previous day when he had quite legitimately had
them on his person, but Mr Clare said knuckledusters were “an offensive weapon per se” and that it was “never legitimate to have them outside the home”.
Barnes, who had admitted the offence of possessing an offensive weapon, was fined £293 and ordered to pay £117 in court costs and charges.
Matt Clarke, owner of XO, said in response to the case: “We are wholly supportive of the prosecution of a guest DJ, Darren Barnes, as ordered by Boston Magistrates Court, which was brought about as a result of our zero tolerance approach towards criminal and unsocial behaviour in our venues, whether it be customers or staff.
“As soon as we became aware of the issue, security staff attended with management.
“Without hesitation the guilty party was detained, followed by the crime being recorded in our incident files and reported instantly to the police, who swiftly attended and made arrest on the evening.
“Security, managerial and serving staff supported the arrest and subsequent prosecution with witness statements, and footage from our 32 camera CCTV system was also tendered as evidence.
“Whilst we are clearly upset that the incident happened at all, we are grateful to the diligent work of the team at the venue for ensuring that this did not result in injury of any parties, and are happy to say that our venues remain safe for all.”
