A prostitute offered her services from the balcony of a house.
Held: She was guilty of the offence of soliciting ‘in a street or public place’ contrary to section 1(1) of the 1959 Act. Applying the mischief rule, it could be seen that her solicitations took place in a ‘street or public place’ for the purposes of the Act.
Lord Parker said: ‘Observe that it does not say there specifically that the person who is doing the soliciting must be in the street. Equally it does not say that it is enough if the person who receives the solicitation or to whom it is addressed is in the street. For my part, I approach the matter by considering what is the mischief aimed at by this Act. Everybody knows that this was an Act intended to clean up the streets, to enable people to walk along the streets without being molested or solicited by common prostitutes. Viewed in that way, it can matter little whether the prostitute is soliciting while in the street or is standing in a doorway or on a balcony, or at a window, or whether the window is shut or open or half open; in each case her solicitation is projected to and addressed to somebody walking in the street. For my part, I am content to base my decision on that ground and that ground alone. I think that the magistrate came to a correct conclusion in each case, and that these appeals should be dismissed.’
Lord Parker
[1960] 2 All ER 859, [1960] 1 WLR 830
Street Offences Act 1959 1(1)
England and Wales
Updated: 15 July 2021; Ref: scu.200616
