A man who took a knife from a young relative who was threatening to hurt someone with it walked free on Friday in a precedent-setting Magistrates' Court case.

Tafari Saifu Wolde Maxwell, 24, could have been imprisoned for up to five years for possessing the bladed weapon after politicians last year hiked the penalties for weapons offences.

But Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner accepted a defence of "duress of circumstance" in Maxwell's trial, ruling that Maxwell possessed the knife for "a higher moral purpose".

This is the first time such a defence has worked in relation to the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2005, which was passed last July and made it an offence to carry a bladed article in a public place. The amendment stated that a person found guilty of possessing a bladed article would receive a minimum three year term of imprisonment and a maximum of five years.

Magistrates' Court heard last week that Mr. Maxwell was stopped by Police on Court Street on January 6 and immediately told them that he had a knife on him and had just taken it from his younger cousin.

The defendant told the court he took the weapon from the 17-year-old because the young man was in an agitated state and threatening to use it on someone. He said that he took the knife away from his cousin to prevent anyone getting seriously hurt and was going to dispose of it when he was arrested.

Lawyer Llewellyn Peniston, representing Maxwell, argued that though his client had broken the bladed weapon law, he did so to ensure that a more serious law such as assault or causing grievous bodily harm, was not committed.

Mr Peniston relied on a legal precedent made in the British High Court in 1995. In that case, Fitzroy Pommell was acquitted of possessing a loaded shotgun which was found in his bed when Police executed a search warrant.

The defendant said a man he knew came to his house that evening with the gun and said he intended to murder someone. Mr. Pommell told the court that he persuaded the individual to give him the gun and intended to hand over to Police in the morning. He said the warrant was executed before he had a chance to turn the gun in. Originally Mr. Pommell was convicted of the firearms charge but it was overturned on appeal.

The appeal judge, Lord Justice Anthony Kennedy, said the strength of the argument was that a person ought to be "permitted to breach the letter of the criminal law in order to prevent a greater evil befalling himself or others" .

On Friday, Mr. Warner said he believed the 24-year-old Bean Dale, Pembroke resident's evidence. He said Crown evidence proved the defendant did tell Police that he had a bladed article and that he took it from his cousin before they searched him.

He said that in light of Mr. Peniston's defence it was the Crown's burden to prove that the defendant did not have a justifiable reason for possessing the blade.

"I am not satisfied that he did not have reasonable grounds for possessing the bladed article," Mr. Warner said.

Maxwell was acquitted of the charges and left the court a happy man.