Oxfordshire polo club boss who invited Prince Harry in court

Charlie Budgett, 41, who owns Kirtlington Park polo club, was at city centre nightclub Plush in the early hours of May 27 when he was detained for an unrelated incident and the folding knife was found.

Oxfordshire Magistrates’ Court heard on Wednesday (October 4) that Budgett was out celebrating a business deal that would see modernist glamping cabins brought to his Oxfordshire estate in a UK-first that was later covered by the national press. 

But he ended up missing an interview with The Times reporter covering the new ‘mirror cabins’ by Estonian firm Ood – after the police held him in custody for two days before taking him to the magistrates’ court on the Monday.

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The newspaper’s travel journalist was shown around the new glamping pods by Budgett’s wife, Lucy, the daughter of Olympic medal-winning horseman Richard Meade.

The couple's wedding in 2014 was attended by Prince William, a schoolfriend of Lucy Meade's brother, and Prince Harry. 

On Wednesday, Budgett told the justices that he habitually carried the knife on his Kirtlington farm for use in agricultural work.

He had gone to the nightclub in his work clothes as he did not want to keep his guests waiting in the car while he got changed.

Charlie Budgett after losing his trial. He was given a £576 fine Picture: Oxford Mail (Image: Oxford Mail)

Defending, Neil Corre said in his closing submissions to the bench: “This is not an urban dweller who carries a knife for peeling oranges. This is a countryman who uses a knife in the course of his trade and profession.

“He does not think of it as a weapon. He would not use it as such."

He added: “The reasoning behind the law is that one must not have a bladed article for the very reason that it may be used to cause harm.

“That is why the law provides a defence of good reason, because if there were no good reasons for these knives they would be banned altogether. They would not be manufactured.

“But there are clearly good reasons why they can be used. [This knife] is a folding knife, because it’s safer that way; keep it on the clip, fold it up, put it in the pocket.”

He'd been to Plush nightclub, pictured, to celebrate the culmination of a business project and was still in his farming clothes Picture: Ed Nix

Mr Corre asked the magistrates to accept that Budgett had forgotten the knife was on his belt when he went to the club. The defendant said he would often leave the knife in his car if, for example, he had to go into a shop.

“What makes this different to other occasions when he did remember [to remove the blade] was that this was the completion of an enormous project, for which he’d obtained planning permission and for which he had carried out some of the principal work, too,” the barrister said.

“There were people from Estonia who had contributed to this project. They had come to the farm.

“It was all a bit of a rush. They had The Times reporter coming the following day and you can imagine the elation and excitement.”

Charlie Budgett walks away from Oxford Magistrates' Court after losing his bladed article trial Picture: Oxford Mail (Image: Oxford Mail)

For the prosecution, Luisa Rose said: “In my submission, [Budgett’s] demonstrated the knowledge he shouldn’t carry a knife.” His reason for having the knife ‘cannot amount to good reason’, she added.

The magistrates sided with the Crown, finding Budgett guilty of a single charge of possession of a bladed article.

READ MORE: Read our full Scales of Justice magistrates' court results archive

Chairman of the bench Joanne Corrigan said the defence had not established on the balance of probabilities that he had a good enough reason to have the blade.

But taking into account he had no previous knife convictions and that intervention from the probation service was unnecessary, they - exceptionally - imposed a fine for the blade offence.

Budgett, of Akeman Street, Kirtlington, was fined £576 and ordered to pay another £850 in costs and surcharge.