BACKVagrancy Act 1824
Section 4 of this Act provides that :
| "every person who wilfully, openly, lewdly and obscenely exposes his person with intent to insult a female shall be deemed a rogue and a vagabond and liable to imprisonment therefore for a period of three months" |
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 amended the Vagrancy Act 1824 in such a manner as to effectively end its use in cases of exposure.
Town Police Clauses Act 1847
The Town Police Clauses Act of 1847 provides that
| " every person who wilfully and indecently exposes his person in a street to the annoyance of residents or passengers shall be guilty of an offence and liable for up to 14 days' imprisonment" |
The Town Police Clauses Act 1847 was intended to protect public transport users from male nudity. In this case there is no need for a female to be insulted.
Section 28 Town Police Clauses Act 1847
This section also makes it an offence for any person to wilfully and indecently expose his person in any street to the
| "obstruction, annoyance or danger, of the residents or passengers". |
In this offence, as in the previous one, the word "person" means penis.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 amended the The Town Police Clauses Act of 1847 and has effectively ended its use in cases of exposure.
Please Note:
The information given on this page is intended only as a general
guide to the the legal position . It was not written by a
legally-qualified individual.
It should not be relied upon as a definitive guide to the law ,
and is only applicable to England and Wales. The law in Scotland
and Northern Ireland may be different.
Neither the author nor the publishers of this
FactFile can be held responsible should naturism or nudity cause you to be
arrested and / or prosecuted for any offence.