Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of existing legislation to prevent the carrying of crossbows in public buildings, including hospitals and educational institutions.

It is an offence in England and Wales, under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953, for any person to have with them in a public place any article made, or adapted, for causing an injury to a person without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. The maximum penalty, on conviction or indictment, is four years in prison, a fine or both.