I'm Really Worried I Have Upset My...
Family & Relationships2 mins ago
garden nudity
19 Answers
The July before last I was watering my garden with a hosepipe when my loose-fitting shorts dropped to the ground and my neighbour complained to the police who reprimanded me. Has there been change in the law whereby if you are in your own garden, secluded from passersby and not being provocative to any prying neighbours, you can strip if you want to?
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If your garden is overlooked by your neighbours going about their own business and not resorting to standing on ladders or leaning out of windows - you cannot expose your bits in the garden.
I find it hard to believe that a neighbour would call the police in the circumstances you describe. It would be natural to attempt to cover oneself if clothing went adrift - surely you did?
This is a useful link for you:
http://n-2.org.uk/nuff/pages/legal/garden.htm
Remember - if your neighbour could easily see your genitals in that fleeting moment (I hope it was fleeting) then perhaps a child could.
I find it hard to believe that a neighbour would call the police in the circumstances you describe. It would be natural to attempt to cover oneself if clothing went adrift - surely you did?
This is a useful link for you:
http://n-2.org.uk/nuff/pages/legal/garden.htm
Remember - if your neighbour could easily see your genitals in that fleeting moment (I hope it was fleeting) then perhaps a child could.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 created a new offence of "Exposure" which replaced several archaic "Indecent Exposure" offences. One criterion of the new offence is supposed to be "intend to cause alarm or distress" however a conviction for Exposure is possible even in cases where there is no actual victim and where no-one was caused "alarm or distress".
http://n-2.org.uk/nuff/pages/legal/soa.htm
http://n-2.org.uk/nuff/pages/legal/soa.htm
I read the page (and others) before posting the link and am well aware of the full text and its meaning.
I repeated the line "...conviction ...is possible" (note it does not say "is likely") to highlight the fact that, such as with other legislation, it is not always the letter of the law that directs the outcome of a prosecution.
I repeated the line "...conviction ...is possible" (note it does not say "is likely") to highlight the fact that, such as with other legislation, it is not always the letter of the law that directs the outcome of a prosecution.
Hi Yorkie,
A female neighbourhood police officer accompanied by a recruit came and told me that a complaint had been made, advised me to keep my 'knickers' on. I went next door to discuss the matter and the door was shut in my face, she must have complained again so the next visit by the officer was to advise me to let the matter drop. We weren't on good terms with the neighbours before but now there is little chance of improvement.
A female neighbourhood police officer accompanied by a recruit came and told me that a complaint had been made, advised me to keep my 'knickers' on. I went next door to discuss the matter and the door was shut in my face, she must have complained again so the next visit by the officer was to advise me to let the matter drop. We weren't on good terms with the neighbours before but now there is little chance of improvement.
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Cards on the table... I'm a police officer.
I don't know whether you're innocent or not and I'm not going to pass specific comment.
On-going neighbour disputes are extremely difficult. They get referred to the police because none of the other Emergency Services would deal with them - they don't involve rescuing/saving people so they must be a police problem, and councils don�t work 24hrs.
Assuming innocence...
It sounds like your neighbour complained and somebody came round to speak to everyone.
Imagine the call to the Control Room - "my neighbour's flashing at me". It would have to get a response.
The officers/community officers have probably spoken to your neighbour and come round to warn you that the person next door can see you and it caused them offence.
It means that the neighbour is told that you've been spoken to, and it means that you've been made aware that they were unhappy.
Unfortunately common sense rarely applies anymore. The laws are getting more and more ridiculous as the government desperately tries to rectify mistakes made previously.... ASBOs for example are a reaction to public outcry at the courts not doing anything about disorder, yet if the government hadn't weakened sentencing powers of magistrates and judges and hadn't run away in fear from the Human Rights Act, ASBOs wouldn't have been needed.
Because everyone's scared of complaints (Senior Management would rather reprimand their own staff even if they've done the right thing, rather than risk a complaint themselves) action is taken more and more regularly in order to cover oneself. Not always right, and certainly not what most police officers want.
I don't know whether you're innocent or not and I'm not going to pass specific comment.
On-going neighbour disputes are extremely difficult. They get referred to the police because none of the other Emergency Services would deal with them - they don't involve rescuing/saving people so they must be a police problem, and councils don�t work 24hrs.
Assuming innocence...
It sounds like your neighbour complained and somebody came round to speak to everyone.
Imagine the call to the Control Room - "my neighbour's flashing at me". It would have to get a response.
The officers/community officers have probably spoken to your neighbour and come round to warn you that the person next door can see you and it caused them offence.
It means that the neighbour is told that you've been spoken to, and it means that you've been made aware that they were unhappy.
Unfortunately common sense rarely applies anymore. The laws are getting more and more ridiculous as the government desperately tries to rectify mistakes made previously.... ASBOs for example are a reaction to public outcry at the courts not doing anything about disorder, yet if the government hadn't weakened sentencing powers of magistrates and judges and hadn't run away in fear from the Human Rights Act, ASBOs wouldn't have been needed.
Because everyone's scared of complaints (Senior Management would rather reprimand their own staff even if they've done the right thing, rather than risk a complaint themselves) action is taken more and more regularly in order to cover oneself. Not always right, and certainly not what most police officers want.
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Thank you Yorkie,
I have been hoping that someone from the Police force or a solicitor would contribute to this discussion. One thing I did not mention in my original contribution was that the neighbour had erected a 6 foot fence on her side and the only way she could have seen me was from the upstairs window. The telling comment you made was - 'common sense does not apply anymore'. In years gone by I imagine that the phone call would be made, the complainant would be assured that no harm was being done and certainly no officer would be sent round. Nowadays the public do not know where they stand in many issues and I regret to see that the government have a lot to answer for to the detriment of relations with the local police force. Thanks.
I have been hoping that someone from the Police force or a solicitor would contribute to this discussion. One thing I did not mention in my original contribution was that the neighbour had erected a 6 foot fence on her side and the only way she could have seen me was from the upstairs window. The telling comment you made was - 'common sense does not apply anymore'. In years gone by I imagine that the phone call would be made, the complainant would be assured that no harm was being done and certainly no officer would be sent round. Nowadays the public do not know where they stand in many issues and I regret to see that the government have a lot to answer for to the detriment of relations with the local police force. Thanks.
Hugh's answer reminds me of the old joke. Lady complains re neighbour's nudity; PC attends her house to inspect and says "I can't see anythging, madam. Surely you're mistaken?"; and she replies "But you CAN see him next door, if you stand on top of the bedroom wardrobe and twist your neck through 75 degrees."
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