Faulty zipper - criminal act?
Yesterday I was wearing a pair of grey trousers that have a zipper which tends to work itself open if left unchecked. I'm not sure why the zipper does that.
I was in the queue for coffee at work, and facing away towards the seating area staring absent-mindedly into the middle distance. Following a couple of years of ownership of these trousers, it has become second nature to periodically reach down and rectify the zipper.
So without even consciously deciding to move my arm, it had grasped the zipper and pulled it up. Then I had a moment of self-awareness and realised that a woman seated at a table about 20 feet away was partially scowling at me. I am guessing that from her position, it looked like I had grabbed my crotch for no good reason whilst facing her directly!
No further action was taken, I got my coffee and returned to my desk. But I projected a 'worst case' scenario outcome, and found it possible to contemplate that I could have had a complaint levelled against me for sexual harrassment.
So the conclusion of this blog is as follows: there are some crimes for which it seems possible to argue that intent or negligence needs to be proved in order for the crime to have occurred, but I suspect that this is not a universal view.
Put another way - do you think I was actually sexually harrassing that woman, notwithstanding the fact that I didn't intend to?
7 comments:
I feel your pain. I too have a pair of trousers that do this, in fact I'm wearing them today. I tend to look skywards while adjusting them. Another troublesome habit of mine is to stare off into space for prolonged periods of time, as daydreamers do. I'm essentially "looking but not seeing", and if some woman's chest happens to be in my line of vision I am unfortunately none the wiser. I'm pretty sure this has been mistaken for ogling on numerous occasions. I have yet to face prosecution for this, so cannot provide a legal precedent I'm afraid.
That all said, I still think you're an auld perv.
Interesting how you forgot to mention the gritted teeth and arched eyebrow as you 'adjusted your zipper', and that court appearance in 2002 for similar activities. Are you still banned from all John Lewis stores?
They still hang people like you for things like this at D&T's Belfast office.
Google for mens rea.
Under English Common Law you need criminal intent to be guilty of a crime. Mens rea 'guilty mind' is the difference between murder and manslaughter.
Parliament has passed numerous acts though that now make you a criminal no matter what your intent was. For example possession laws. In my opionion those laws are wrong. But your judge and jury may have a different opinion
Excellent response! Coincidentally I have just heard from the woman's lawyers, so I now have a defence of slightly more robustness!
I'd like to question you on your thoughts on people who "fiddle with their zipper" in the privacy of their own home, but in full display of passers by through their front room window?
Well, as everyone knows I have strong views on this subject, but that deserves its own Abstract...
Is it a coincidence that there is now an advert on this blog for www.legalappeal.co.uk which asks "Falsely accused of a sexual offence?"
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