The Promotion Exams
| Author | J. Daniel Devlin |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X6403700309 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
SUPERINTENDENT
J.
DANIEL
DEVLIN,
LL.B.
Of
the Southend-on-Sea Constabulary and the Directing
Staff
of
the
Police College
Thefifteenth
of
a series
of
articles
of
interest to examination candidates
and all concerned with training.
TilE
pnO~IOTION
EXAMS
XV
•.•
SEXUAL OFFENCES (continued)
In this month's article we shalldeal with a number
of
crimes which
are some of the sexual offences most frequently coming to the notice
of
the police: gross indecency, in its various forms, common law
indecency, indecent assaults, and indecency with children.
GROSS INDECENCY
Acts
of
gross indecency are indecent acts between men which fall
short of sodomy. By s. 13 of the Act,
It is an offence for a man to commit an act of gross indecency with another
man, whether in public or in private, or to be a party to the commission by a
man of an act of grossindecency with another man, or to procure the commission
by a man of an act of gross indecency with another man.
The section therefore creates three offences: (i) committing;
(ii) being a party
to;
and (iii) procuring; an act of gross indecency.
Offence (i) occurs when a man, A, himself commits an act with a
second man, B, as for example when A and B masturbate each other.
Offence (ii) occurs when the accused, C, does
not
himself commit
an act but is merely a party to an act between A and B.
For
example
if A and Bcommitted an act in a public convenience and C kept watch
at the entrance, C would be a party to A's and B's act. Offence (iii)
is committed by C when he procures an act between A and B without
taking part himself. (There is authority for saying, however, that a
man can procure an act with
himself-see
below.) So, if, following
a request by A, C persuades B to commit an act with A, C not tak-
ing part in the act, C has procured the act.
Committing an act
The offence is complete whether it is committed in public or in
private and whether or not the other party consents. Neither is it
necessary to show that there was any physical contact between the
men, provided it can be proved that they were acting in concert:
R. v. Hunt [1950] 2All E.R. 291.
There must, of course, be two or more men; one man alone
committing an indecent act does not contravene this section. This
does not mean, however, that at least two persons must be charged
or convicted: R. v. Jones &Bowerbank [1896] I Q.B. 4.
If
the
March 1964 131
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