Sexual breach of the peace / Sex mit Fahrrad

Judging from Google, not only Werner Siebers is baffled by a Telegraph report:

Die spinnen, die Engländer. Weil ein Mann Sex mit seinem Fahrrad hatte – wie auch immer das befriedigen kann – muss er sich jetzt vor Gericht verantworten. 1993 musste in England bereits ein Mann einsitzen, weil er sich mit Pflastersteinen – auch das übersteigt meine Phantasie – vergnügt hatte.

(‘Die Engländer’ here means the British.) Even I find this odd. Let’s forget about the 1993 Redditch case of a fairly naked man in contortions on the pavement and look at this Scottish case – and note that it is a case of Scottish criminal law. It seems odd to me – and others discussing it inter alia on snopes.com – not only that it was an offence although he was in his own room and the door was locked, but also that he should now be registered as a sex offender. The man admitted to a ‘sexual breach of the peace’.

Collins Dictionary of Law (cheap paperback, ISBN 0007102941) is good on Scots matters:

breach of the peace in England, conduct causing harm or likely to cause harm or generally disturb the peace. The preservation of the peace is an ancient Crown prerogative. it is an especially important offence in relation to civil liberties, for if conduct is likely to occasion a breach of the peace that will justify arrest.
In Scots criminal law, disorderly conduct that is likely to occasion a public disturbance. It is a very widely construed crime and often causes concern in relation to civil liberties. It encompasses looking in at a lighted window … statements made to another in the absence of witness in private … and even an exuberant blow to the chest of a fellow footballer.

Consider also the case of the Englishman from Bournemouth jailed for hiking naked – but only once he reached Scotland.

7 thoughts on “Sexual breach of the peace / Sex mit Fahrrad

  1. Does he really need to be registered as a sex offender? I mean, what is with all the people that use some other form of ‘aid’ to satisfy their needs? Are they sex offenders too?

    • That’s exactly the point, isn’t it? This is Scotland, which has a different legal system, but even there it seems a particularly egregious case. I wonder if there will be any reaction now that the story has hit the world’s press? Must keep an eye on the (Glasgow) Herald and The Scotsman, which I sometimes look at online anyway.
      Of course, the remark ‘Die spinnen, die Engl

      • Another thought just came to my mind: if he was in his own room and the door was locked, who could have known what he was doing in there? Did somebody see him through the window, or how could they know? After all, if he has been indicted, somebody must have been offended by this.

        • It’s described in the Telegraph article (are the links too subtly marked?) – I presume the cleaners had to go in, and after knocking several times they got a master key. And were offended.

          • Sorry, Margaret, but I simply overlooked the link to the Telegraph article – I just noticed the one to snopes.com.

          • You needn’t apologize, Sonja! I had deliberately obvious links in my old blog and I could change the style here, but I have been persuaded that they are pleasantly subtle (very subtle indeed).

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