Police initially reported a steep drop in the number of incidents involving blades after the minimum three year sentence was brought in during the summer 2005.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette in January 2006, Deputy Commissioner Roseanda Young said: "We are very pleased. This legislation is definitely making a difference. It means that the Public Order Unit is now more able to do proactive work instead of having to deal with this kind of incident."

However, by May 2005 Police were signalling that criminals no longer appeared to be heeding the deterrent sentences.

Acting Superintendent Paul Wright said at that time that bladed weapon offences had gone back up — with those arrested seeming to believe a prison term was not a certainty, and legal challenges would allow them to walk free.

Police were unable to provide statistics on arrests and convictions for such offences by press time. However, of the 12 sentences for possession of a bladed article this newspaper has reported on since the new law came in, eight of the defendants were handed the mandatory prison term.

Three were given the mandatory minimum but on a suspended basis. One was sentenced to less than the minimum after a Magistrate apparently accepted her excuse that the blade she was carrying was to cut up fruit.