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Student jailed for making explosives

Started by pymp, Oct 09 2006 07:03 PM

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8 replies to this topic

#1 pymp

Trying to move into SFX..

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93 posts

Posted 09 October 2006 - 07:03 PM

Link to article

Yeah, he was making stupid stuff, with metal containers and HE...
But look at this quote:

Mattison pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing explosive substances, and was jailed for 14 months concurrent on each charge

explosive substances?

It was the fact that he was possessing substances that he got jailed for, what if BP or FP or whistle etc also fall into this category (which they probably do)?

Opinions?

"There are many old pyros
There are many bold pyros
But there are not very many
Old, Bold Pyros" - author unknown

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#2 Andrew

Rocket Scientist, no really, I am!

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 07:19 PM

He obviously possessed more than he was allowed.

MSER 2005 laid out that you can make any explosive as long as it was for experimental purposes and you made no more than 100g at any one time. You need no licence to manufacture or store this much.

See this link.

This guy obviously made more, which is illegal. The other more poignant thing to take from this is that he was acting in a malicious and irresponsible way. This is the reason any charges were pushed. If you make or store no more than 100g, and you do not break any laws in the process, you are fine. Simple!

He was actually jailed for 3.5 years, not 14 months.

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#3 pymp

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 07:24 PM

Thanks for the clarification Andrew.

Edited by BigG, 09 October 2006 - 08:49 PM.

"There are many old pyros
There are many bold pyros
But there are not very many
Old, Bold Pyros" - author unknown

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#4 starseeker

Pyro Forum Regular

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859 posts

Posted 09 October 2006 - 08:14 PM

Thanks for the clarification Andrew.

I think that there is a bit of a difference in say having 200g of powder,stars,ready to load in a shell,then loading a beer barrel with HE and blowing a eight foot crater in the ground!You only have to browse this forum to see that the law are not that interested in the safe,legalish hobbyist.Its the nutters that they are after! <_<

Edited by BigG, 09 October 2006 - 08:50 PM.

www.stellarfireworks.co.uk

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#5 Guest_Shrubsole_*

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 09:21 PM

There are a whole host of differences that we need to make clear and educate people (the authorities) to these MAJOR differences.

We, don't want (or need) to put HE into a beer barrel. We value having our arms and legs in the same positions to which they are currently connected!

We are not here to cause damage to people, buildings or animals. (And go out of our way to make sure that that doesn't happen even by accident)

Me (personally) am here to make a SAFE device to entertain myself and others in an ancient art of coloured flame and amusing pops. (whatever the law says that I can do)

I have to ask the question: Why does anyone actually want to make HE? You can download a video from the Internet if all you want to do is see the result. And a lot more safer.

HE has no place at all in pyrotechnics AT ALL (Think about this one: What really would you use them for? Are you going to set it off and blow most of you audience away and take out the garage in the meantime?)

My personal view is that ANYONE who makes any form of HE should rightly be locked away as they are bloody dangerous and not doing us (pyros) any favours as the uneducated public and government see us all in the same boat.

The biggest "bang" that I and any "Pyro" needs is to split a shell and throw some stars across the sky.

Sadly, (and a strange important point) the chemicals required for HE are more available than some of the Pyro chemicals we all use to create art to entertain people.

It's a strange old world!

Edit: After reading the full article, what exactly has this idiot got to do with firework makers? He is/was a b**b maker and as such is in a good place for such dangerous people. :angry:

We don't want to associate, or more importantly, BE associated with that sort.

...but we will :rolleyes:

Edited by Shrubsole, 09 October 2006 - 09:32 PM.

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#6 pymp

Trying to move into SFX..

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 09:49 PM

Hmmm, sorry if this thread appears to have been viewed the wrong way, it was just that the article mentions that it was the fact that he possessed an "explosive substance" that got him in jail. I wasn't meaning to suggest a similarity to his activities and ours, merely that an explosive substance could also be percieved as some of the substances used in pyrotechnics.

"There are many old pyros
There are many bold pyros
But there are not very many
Old, Bold Pyros" - author unknown

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#7 Guest_Shrubsole_*

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Posted 09 October 2006 - 10:29 PM

Hmmm, sorry if this thread appears to have been viewed the wrong way, it was just that the article mentions that it was the fact that he possessed an "explosive substance" that got him in jail. I wasn't meaning to suggest a similarity to his activities and ours, merely that an explosive substance could also be percieved as some of the substances used in pyrotechnics.

The legal side of it is interesting as anyone with a can of petrol is in "Possession" of an "explosive substance"

My Kno3 is for feeding my 1000000000 acres of tomato plants.

I have 203 bar-be-ques a year for which I need charcoal (Willow charcoal makes food taste better, it's a proven fact) :lol:

And my sulphur is for dusting my tomato plants to stop mold. (allegedly!) :glare:

My Ball mill is for grinding down sugar to make icing sugar for my wedding cake business.

The cardboard tubes are for sexual purposes which I won't go into here. :blush:

But seriously, it would be nice to hear from someone as to the actual law that was used and not a newspapers wording on the subject.

I can understand "Explosive DEVICE" but not "explosive SUBSTANCE"

Meanwhile, I will stick to my morals regarding the law and refuse to be classed along with people out to do dangerous and disgusting things.

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#8 Ninjapoo

The Proud Newbie

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11 posts

Posted 10 October 2006 - 02:35 AM

i'm familiar with people making party poppers into trip wires and something completely minor and safe, but something like this (8ft craters) that's just insane! he seriously has some guts to do that... i mean... a beer keg full of that HE! that's just asking for trouble though... but why did he have that much stuff in the first place? :S sure you're a chemistry student but that's alot of stuff to get hold of and did he steal it from the uni/college lab? oh who knows... hope there wont be any more of this non sence in the future

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#9 BigG

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Posted 10 October 2006 - 11:18 AM

As far as I am aware the police and courts have a great deal of DISCRETION, they decide if there is a threat to others or their property.

As for xplos1ve substances, toy gun caps are a percussive xpl0sive, it's not that simple.
I've spent hours searching for case law but it is time consuming and often requires subscriptions to legal sites to obtain the judgements and discussion.

guys, I think this was discussed enough. I deleted the ukra info post - it's avilable on ukra site and it's orianted more toward rockets. there are many different issues with pyro making.

We are working on clear law info for pyro. probably will be published early next year.

Edited by BigG, 10 October 2006 - 11:19 AM.