Aussie Bushman, 75, Shocked After Getting $100 Fine For Carrying Pocketknife

An elderly Aussie bloke nicknamed 'Cowboy' has been shocked after copping a fine for doing something he's done for decades.

Wayne McLennan was pulled over by police on the way home from the pub in rural Queensland.

The former rodeo champion ended up blowing over the limit during the alcohol test and was taken to the nearby station for another test.

Speaking to Channel 9's A Current Affair, Wayne said: "I just said I'd head home now, get me four cans in a bag and just walked down the steps and the police pulled in behind...as I was walking down the steps...she said 'I'm going to bretho you', I said 'ok'.

Thankfully for him, he blew under the limit the second time and just before he was about to get up and go, the 75-year-old was told he was being fined for something completely different.

Wayne said: "While I was there she said 'but I am going to charge you for wearing a pocket knife in public'. I said "what? I didn't know you weren't allowed to wear one.

"I've been wearing one since I was 14 years old. She said 'that's it, that's the law'."

'Cowboy' explained he's always had his trusty blade, which isn't more than an inch long, whenever he steps out of the house for 60 years.

He said: "Well if I got to go and put a bale of hay out, I use it to cut the string and then open a bag of horse feed, use it to open the top."

The police officer told him that carrying a blade in public is in contravention of Section 51 of Queensland's Weapons Act.

The law states that a person can only have a knife in their possession outside the confines of their home if they've got a reasonable excuse.

Considering Wayne couldn't say he needed his trusty pocketknife at that very moment he was seen leaving the pub, he had to face the music.

Police ended up fining him $100.

He told the Channel 9 programme: "I wouldn't have had one on me if I'd known I wasn't allowed to wear one."

Wayne was shocked to find out that he had been accidentally breaking the rules nearly every day for the past six decades, which could have cost him dearly if he was fined each time.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 9

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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