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Hands off naked cyclist! British Naturism clarifies law as it leaps to defence of naked cyclist

Organisation points out that nude rider reported to Cheshire Police at weekend wasn't necessarily committing an offence...

News that a naked cyclist in Warrington had been reported to police has prompted a response from British Naturism, which points out that taking your clothes off in public is not necessarily a crime.

As we reported on our live blog yesterday evening, the man was spotted riding in the buff near Fiddlers Ferry Boat Yard and Penketh Mount on Sunday afternoon.

Police confirmed that they were investigating, but British Naturism has stressed that unless he intended to alarm or distress others, he was not committing a crime under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Section 66 of the act, which deals with exposure, says that “A person commits an offence if (a) he intentionally exposes his genitals, and (b) he intends that someone will see them and be caused alarm or distress.”

The important point here is that there must be intent – someone may well be caused alarm or distress at the sight of a naked body in public, but if the nude person did not have the intent to cause it, there is no offence.

Andrew Welch from British Naturism told the Warrington Guardian: "It's an important point and it frustrates us.

"I think that there is a presumption that a naked man must be up to something, when in fact the law is now incredibly clear.

"There is no action needed unless a crime is being committed. Naturism – taking your clothes off specifically because you want to sunbathe or feel the air on your skin – was named as an exclusion from the Sexual Offences Act.”

"A naturist just doing his or her normal thing is not committing any kind of crime.

"It doesn't have to be behind closed doors or in a designated area - anybody can take their clothes off and be a human being without committing a crime, unless they absolutely set out to offend someone."

He acknowledged that what the law says and what people – including police officers – assume it says can be very different, saying: "The law is clear, but the culture is not – people aren't used to nudity, and think that a naked person must be up to something a bit strange.

"Maybe they think that person is a bit deranged to take their clothes off, and with the weather in this country sometimes you can't blame them.

"If I looked out my window one morning and there was a naked person in the street outside then it would go through my mind too.

"What often happened in the past was that the police would be alerted, and a naked man in the street would be arrested or cautioned.

"But the change has come because we have been working with the police over the last few years to get them to pay attention to what the law actually says.

"Because of all that work, they are now training the police to work out whether a crime is being committed.

"The law has been the same for 15 years, but the way it has been applied had been bad – but it's now being done in the right way," he added.

Similarly, organisers of events in England and Wales falling under the umbrella of the World Naked Bike Ride – held annually in hundreds of towns and cities around the world – stress that public nudity is fine, unless alarm or distress to others is intended.

> World Naked Bike Ride London date announced for 2019

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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11 comments

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Bikeylikey | 5 years ago
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Well he was obviously up to no good, being nude in Fiddler's Yard, presumably where people in Warrington traditionally go to fiddle about. With themselves or others.

Other than location, though, how can you know what someone's 'intent' is? They could be nude and fiddling like crazy in public and say they were just getting a tan on their underside.

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levermonkey | 5 years ago
1 like

Nude - Without covering

Naked - Without guard or protection

This cyclist is not naked - he is nude. The headline is incorrect.

The Naked Bike Ride however, is called that because the purpose is to show how unprotected cyclists are. And is therefore correct.

 

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brooksby | 5 years ago
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Seems that British Naturism are saying that "It's perfectly legal to do that, so please feel free to explain that to White Van Man or the police after they've *beaten you up for 'being a f-ing nonce' *arrested you for exhibitionism."

Bit like BC or CUK saying that "Its perfectly legal for you to ride in that place, or in that position on the road, so please feel free to explain that to White Van Man after he's *run you over / *run you off the road for 'f-ing taking up all the whole ruddy road'."

 

*delete as appropriate

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MoreCoffeeNeeded | 5 years ago
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"A person commits an offence if HE..." does this mean that the naked women are incapable of causing alarm and distress...? 

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henryb replied to MoreCoffeeNeeded | 5 years ago
2 likes

MoreCoffeeNeeded wrote:

"A person commits an offence if HE..." does this mean that the naked women are incapable of causing alarm and distress...? 

A fair question, but the answer is 'no'. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/6

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ChrisB200SX replied to MoreCoffeeNeeded | 5 years ago
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MoreCoffeeNeeded wrote:

"A person commits an offence if HE..." does this mean that the naked women are incapable of causing alarm and distress...? 

Does seem sexist! Also, they have assumed the person's gender  4

Avatar
brooksby replied to ChrisB200SX | 5 years ago
2 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

MoreCoffeeNeeded wrote:

"A person commits an offence if HE..." does this mean that the naked women are incapable of causing alarm and distress...? 

Does seem sexist! Also, they have assumed the person's gender  4

I think in the opinion of most tabloid media, a naked man in public is "disguuusting!" whereas a naked woman is "whooa!".

I might be generalising a bit there... 

Avatar
kil0ran replied to brooksby | 5 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

MoreCoffeeNeeded wrote:

"A person commits an offence if HE..." does this mean that the naked women are incapable of causing alarm and distress...? 

Does seem sexist! Also, they have assumed the person's gender  4

I think in the opinion of most tabloid media, a naked man in public is "disguuusting!" whereas a naked woman is "whooa!".

I might be generalising a bit there... 

Nah.

See also questions like "If your missus is sleeping with another woman, does that mean she's cheating on you?"

(Pretty sure that was from the venerable Sunday Sport agony aunt page)

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to kil0ran | 5 years ago
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kil0ran wrote:

brooksby wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

MoreCoffeeNeeded wrote:

"A person commits an offence if HE..." does this mean that the naked women are incapable of causing alarm and distress...? 

Does seem sexist! Also, they have assumed the person's gender  4

I think in the opinion of most tabloid media, a naked man in public is "disguuusting!" whereas a naked woman is "whooa!".

I might be generalising a bit there... 

Nah.

See also questions like "If your missus is sleeping with another woman, does that mean she's cheating on you?"

(Pretty sure that was from the venerable Sunday Sport agony aunt page)

As a then sport mad teen I popped down to the village newsagents to peruse the shelf to see if there was a 'Sports mail' leftover from the previous day, it was a Saturday evening only paper printed in green produced by the main daily rag (Hull Daily Mail) with various articles/results of all the sport in the area as well as reaults from the national soccer, rugby, cricket, nag/dog racing, speedway etc.

I picked up what I thought was another 'sporting' newspaper and quickly realised it wasn't ... the lady owner who I'd known for years gave me a bit of a look as she'd clearly seen me, "I'll just take the double decker thanks" and departed with rosy cheeks!

Avatar
Hirsute replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
2 likes

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

"I'll just take the double decker thanks"

Is that still your catchphrase?

Avatar
Kendalred | 5 years ago
2 likes

Insert your own 'helmet' joke here...

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