nude cyclist
by Nicky Park, AAP March 2, 2010, 2:59 pm
Nude New Zealand cyclist Nick Lowe wasn’t in the wrong when he pedaled down a rural road in the buff, a judge has ruled.
Mr Lowe described himself as a “natural athlete” and said his naked ambition had never caused a stir.
“It’s a lifestyle thing. To put clothes on is uncomfortable,” he told The Dominion Post.
“It’s not about exhibitionism. I’m just uncomfortable in clothes.”
But when a female motorist spotted the naked man cycling in Wellington on March 15 – World Nude Bike Day – she was “fairly disgusted” and called the police.
Mr Lowe was convicted of offensive behaviour and slapped with a $NZ200 ($A157) fine, plus court costs of $NZ130 ($A101) – which he refused to pay.
The builder took his case to the High Court in Wellington in a bid to overturn his conviction.”I couldn’t believe it, it just wasn’t right,” Lowe told The Dominion Post.
In a ruling released on Tuesday, Justice Dennis Clifford said Mr Lowe’s nakedness had not met the test of offensive behaviour and he quashed the conviction and fine.
COMMENT:
Two things we’d like to add to this interesting little story.
One: the female motorist who reported Lowe to the police was “fairly disgusted”.
Well…fuck me!
I’m disgusted too, when someone cuts in front of me in traffic and gives me the finger. But do I report it to the police and get the man fined, or even jailed?
I’m disgusted when politicians lie their heads off, but do I report them to the police and try to get them fined, or even jailed?
I’m disgusted when someone expectorates, or spits, on the street, but do I report them and try to get them fined or even sent to jail?
Wake up, lady. It is not a perfect world and if something “fairly disgusts” you, DEAl WITH IT! Dont be a loser, a whinger and a victim all your life!
The second thing we’d like to say is that Justice Clifford may have broken new ground by NOT accepting the prevailing rulings that exhibitionism is INEVITABLY a crime. It must meet the criteria of “offensive behaviour” and…dare we say it…showing your willie in public may not be an offence at all, if no one is offended.
Now this throws the ball back to the complainant who must now PROVE that the behaviour was offensive…and that would be a very difficult thing to do…especially in multi-cultural societies such as ours. That it is “fairly disgusting” to ONE person, or even a few, does not constitute proof that the behaviour is socially offensive.
Now the next thing would be for the cyclist to take MS Fairly Disgusting to court and sue her for frivolous and vexatious behaviour. Quite frankly, the dumb cunt should have her pants sued off her!
That would soon stop the idiotic complaints by the few, who are not representative of the majority!
Good on yer, Mr Cyclist, for not taking it lying down!!!
Oh…and one more thing…we’d like to know what is the “test for offensive behaviour”. If we knew that, then we would know exactly how far we can go…in short we could expose ourselves silly, as long as we stay this side of the line.
Things…ahem…are “looking up”!
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