If you know me, then you know I’m pretty big on defendant’s rights. I believe cases should be tried in the courts and not the media. Sure, I read the news. Thus, I have opinions just like anyone else. But when it comes time to convict someone it has to be proven in a court of law. Leaks that appear in the media don’t factor into things, at least they shouldn’t. The opinions of pro-prosecution pundits do not matter. All that matters is did you prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt (in the case of criminal charges).

According to what I’ve read about the history of law and England’s court system, it’s exactly the same way over there. The man in the case I’m about to tell you about was acquitted of all charges under this standard. In the United States, he would be in the free and clear, able to return to his normal day-to-day life. That’s not how it works in England and Wales though, at least when it comes to people who have been accused of sex crimes.

Take a look

A man who must give police 24 hours’ notice before he has sex after he was cleared of rape has said the ruling “puts an end to your life”. The man, in his 40s, was acquitted last year at a retrial.

He accused North Yorkshire Police, which declined to comment, of “sour grapes” in applying for a Sexual Risk Order (SRO) after the case.

The order requires him to disclose any planned sexual activity to the police or face up to five years in prison.
During his trial, jurors heard the man had an interest in sado-masochistic sex and had visited a fetish club with an ex-partner.
He was cleared after being held on remand for 14 months…

“I had more freedom in prison.

“I’m in a state of shock, I cannot believe this is how the justice system works.”

He said there was “no prospect” of a relationship at the moment. He said: “Can you imagine, 24 hours before sex? Come on.”

“Knock, knock, knock, this is the police, (Mr X) is subject to a Sexual Risk Order and is considered to be potentially dangerous … Then they leave.”

He has been charged with breaching the terms of the order by refusing to give police the PIN to his phone.

Keep in mind, this guy was acquitted. Now, the police want to be able to go through his phone and he is supposed to give them 24 hours notice before he has sex. What kind of crazy shit is this? I’d never even heard of the provision they were using to do this, but maybe that’s because I live in America. Then again, it’s relatively new over there as well.

They call it a “sexual risk order,” which sounds insanely Orwellian. Now, I could perhaps understand something like this for convicted rapists or pedophiles, but not for someone who has been cleared of all charges.

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http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/sexual-risk-order-sro/
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http://trixresources.proceduresonline.com/nat_key/keywords/sexual_risk_orders.html

This man’s case has gotten plenty of publicity before, but I had just never heard about it. As you can see, he’s been charged with breaching the terms of this unbelievable order, so it might now show up as some sort of conviction on his record if he ends up losing. The whole thing is bonkers and I can’t imagine it would ever pass muster here. It seems to me like the police in England have gained a new way to fuck up someone’s life after they lose a case at trial. This is genuinely scary shit and if I lived over there (instead of just being a sometimes visitor) I would be doing everything I could to repeal this draconian legislation.