A 48-year-old man from Nuneaton has been sentenced to 4 months in prison after being caught by police carrying a miniature toy sword based on a popular video game. Anthony Bray was charged with being found in possession of a bladed article in public in June of 2024.
Bray was first detained after Warwickshire Police were informed by CCTV monitoring officers that there was a man walking down Queens Road in Nuneaton with a threatening object in his hand. Bray was then arrested for “carrying a bladed article.”
The man claimed that the sword was a “fidget” – something to keep his hands busy, and that he had bought it online as a toy made for that purpose. The sword was a six-inch replica from the popular video game Legend of Zelda, and was modeled after the trademark sword carried by the game’s hero, Link.
While it is unclear what material the replica was made out of, most models available online are made out of a type of thermoplastic polymer and are not blade-sharp.
Though Bray tried to explain its intended purpose, officers insisted it was a “sharply pointed item which could be used as a weapon and might put others in fear of it being used against them.” Bray accepted that the item could be perceived as threatening, but insisted he would never have used it as a weapon.
Bray was sentenced at Leamington Spa Magistrates Court on June 28, just weeks after being charged, in a speedy trial.
Sergeant Spellman of the Patrol Investigations Unit of the Warwickshire Police said in a statement that the force had “a zero tolerance to bladed articles in public,” adding that Bray has fallen afoul of this.
“It is possible to find fidget toys that aren’t six-inch blades. It is possible not to walk down the street holding them out in front of you.”
