The defendant went bathing at Brighton; he was seen as he undressed and swam in the sea. He was convicted of outraging decency for exposing his naked person in presence of people.
Held: By exposing his naked person he was guilty of a misdemeanour, as it outraged public decency. ‘The law will not tolerate such an exhibition. Whatever his intention might be, the necessary tendency of his conduct was to outrage public decency and to corrupt public morals.’ It was no defence that people had previously bathed there naked before the houses were built: ‘Whatever becomes the habitation of civilised men, there the laws of decency must be enforced.’
Judges:
McDonald CB
Citations:
(1809) 2 Camp 89
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hamilton, Regina v CACD 16-Aug-2007
The defendant appealed his conviction for outraging public decency. He had surreptitously filmed up the skirts of women in a supermarket. The offence was only discovered after the films were found on a search of his home for other material. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 24 November 2022; Ref: scu.258776