October 16, 2003
HIS bracelets may look tough, but Richard Cafarella is really a big softie who has never been in a fight in his life.
So the timid, part-time punk rock musician from Hope Island was caught off guard when police officers intercepted him at Surfers Paradise in May, telling him his rock-star jewellery was illegal.
Mr Cafarella, 20, a machine technician by day, said he and his mates wore the fashionable wrist cuffs whenever they went out.
Yesterday, he appeared in Southport Court charged with possessing a weapon - three leather, metal-studded wrist cuffs, which he says are available at fashion stores such as City Beach.
Prosecutor Greg Overton said the bracelets were a weapon under a section of the Weapons Act.
He said the items had the potential to cause bodily harm by cutting or piercing the skin if used against another person.
To show the damage the cuffs could cause, he tendered a video that depicted a dead pig's head being assaulted by an officer wearing a similar wrist cuff.
The head was reportedly used because pig flesh is the closest type to humans.
Cafarella, who was supported in court by his father, said he had been walking on Orchid Avenue after having coffee with a friend at Surfers Paradise when police approached him.
He said he liked to wear the cuffs, which were part of his punk image.
"It's the fashion I'm into and I guess you practise what you preach," he said.
Defence solicitor Jason Buckland said the cuffs were not a weapon as they were designed to be an accessory.
He told the court his client had no intention of harming anyone and was not involved in any disturbance or altercation when police approached him.
Magistrate Mr Ron Kilner reserved his decision in the summary trial and remanded the matter until October 24.
Outside court Mr Cafarella said he did not know the cuffs could be considered illegal.
"That's how I dress," he said.
"My friends and my girlfriend wear them too.
"They say that a bong isn't illegal until it's used (for drugs), so the cuffs shouldn't be illegal until they're used to hurt someone."
Creations by Decka shop owner Debbie Kocka, who sold Mr Cafarella the cuffs and gave evidence at the trial, said outside court if police could consider anything that pierced skin as a weapon, their work would be cut out for them.
"If they are going to classify it that way, that could mean a badge, a tie pin, a brooch pin, lots of things," she said.
Mr Cafarella said he had wanted to fight the charge from the beginning, saying he did not want a conviction against his name.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7575113%5E421,00.html
:banghead: 
