Woman Remanded in Custody for Loud Sex Breaching Asbo

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SUMMARY

A woman has been remanded in custody for breaching a four-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) that prohibits her from making excessive noise during sexual activities anywhere in England. The ASBO system has been criticized for its vague enforcement and potential for abuse, as it allows local councils to impose restrictions without legal oversight. Participants in the discussion expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of ASBOs, citing examples of absurd restrictions and questioning the rationale behind such punitive measures. The conversation highlighted the need for a more neighborly approach to resolving noise complaints rather than relying on government-issued citations.

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  • #31
LowlyPion said:
I don't think there is any gap in understanding the problem with disturbing others. That's certainly not a right I think anyone is keen to defend.

I think any problem such as it is lays more in the mechanism for remediation with these ASBO's, at least in the case of Britain, which seems open to the rather large question of abusing squishy standards. I think there needs to be a careful balance to be maintained under the Law to insure that the many don't tyrannize the few and vice versa, and that any codification of one particular instance, like say wearing one golf glove, doesn't get generalized into some ridiculous unintended ban applied to more benign instances.
I had never heard of ASBO's before this article. But from the report's it seems pretty clear that she is disturbing the peace. Preventing any law from being abused is always a concern. Just look at all of the crazy laws still on the books in different states that can actually be dredged up in the US. A country-wide law for disturbing the peace sounds unusual, but then England is the size of a state in the US.
 
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  • #32
Evo said:
I'm surprised that some posters don't get that there are laws against disturbing the peace., I think that is pretty universal.

Maybe they're the noisy neighbors who let their dogs run around everyone else's yards off leash while insulting people by yelling "Grass!" and pointing with their one golf-gloved hand. :-p
 
  • #33
Moonbear said:
Maybe they're the noisy neighbors who let their dogs run around everyone else's yards off leash while insulting people by yelling "Grass!" and pointing with their one golf-gloved hand. :-p
:smile:
 
  • #35
To the OP:

I'm just glad that's not my wife and I with that ban haha
 
  • #36
Moonbear said:
Maybe they're the noisy neighbors who let their dogs run around everyone else's yards off leash while insulting people by yelling "Grass!" and pointing with their one golf-gloved hand. :-p
There was a funnier one, a kid was arrested for breaking an ASBO banning him from having alcohol, when they noticed a typo in the original order. It was now an offence for him NOT to be drunk and disorderly in the town centre.
 
  • #37
http://www.statewatch.org/asbo/ASBOwatch.html

If you click the "extreme"-link on left, there's some absurd stuff there:

Callum Smith - A 20-year-old, who has a repeat prescription for methadone to combat his heroin addiction, has been arrested over 30 times because his ASBO forbids him from entering the areas of Cheltenham town centre where his probation office and Cheltenham general hospital are located (April 2009)

Umar Siddique - A 16-year-old banned from every street in Forest Fields, the area of Nottingham in which he lives, except his own. It effectively means he cannot leave his road on foot; only by bus or car (April 2009)

Stuart Hunt - After a dispute with neighbours over speed bumps, he was give an ASBO with a bizarre range of restrictions including laughing at people, waving objects at people, and adopting a menacing stance. Having unsurprisingly breached these terms he appeared in court where his lawyer argued that: "It contravenes any individual's human rights...he would technically be breaching his order if he laughs at a joke" (October 2008)

William Rae - A 22-year-old who has gone to court to fight an order imposed on him for shouting at his TV (March 2007)

Mark Senter - A 33-year-old arrested for breaching his order after asking a friend to lend him £10 so that he could pay his electricity bill. A clause in his order forbids him from asking anyone for cigarettes or money (October 2006)

David Gaylor - A 19-year-old banned from entering any Asda store in England or Wales was fined £50 for breaching his order when found sitting at a bus stop which, unknown to him, was situated on land belonging to the shopping retailer (October 2005)

James Collins - A 57-year-old flasher banned from his own road and surrounding streets faces jail for returning to his own house (September 2005)
 
  • #38
Short, one-sentence summaries of "extreme cases" always sound much more extreme without knowledge of the full situation and complete facts. We are assuming that all of these people are normal folks, and therefore "even you could face jail time for yelling at your telly."

Having been a high school teacher for merely 10 years, I have become all too aware of people pushing boundaries, constantly claiming extreme innocence: "crikey officer, I never noticed that the place I'm banned from was right behind me at this very bus stop, where I have been waiting patiently for the last three hours."

The restrictions on Umar Siddique sound quite unusual, but maybe this is exactly the restriction necessary: removing face-to-face confrontations with all people in his neighborhood. I don't know what he did, but it wasn't smiling and saying 'hi.'
 
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  • #39
OK, here's the deal on http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Teen-banned-street-Forest-Fields/article-876109-detail/article.html"
 
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  • #40
Chi Meson said:
OK, here's the deal on http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Teen-banned-street-Forest-Fields/article-876109-detail/article.html"

Yep, amazing how a little context makes it all sound much more rational. From the description of his offenses, and the penalty given, it actually sounds pretty generous. If he were in the US, he'd probably be on house arrest with an ankle bracelet, if not sitting in prison. It sounds like they've at least made it possible for him to leave his house, catch a bus to town (so he can still get work if he were so inclined, or run necessary errands), and even get a bit of fresh air.
 
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  • #41
Evo said:
Singing, playing music. screaming, banging furniture, especially when you are sharing a wall, ceiling/floor with another person, is not acceptable.
Ov...nd P..k should have such a ban. :wink:
 
  • #42
Moonbear said:
Yep, amazing how a little context makes it all sound much more rational. From the description of his offenses, and the penalty given, it actually sounds pretty generous. If he were in the US, he'd probably be on house arrest with an ankle bracelet, if not sitting in prison. It sounds like they've at least made it possible for him to leave his house, catch a bus to town (so he can still get work if he were so inclined, or run necessary errands), and even get a bit of fresh air.

Better than that, the local victims have become a nuisance. For the price of a bus ticket, he and the mates can hop a bus and indulge in fresh pickin's elsewhere.
 
  • #43
I see problem in the enforcement of these decisions and the way they are worded - how they make sure that the person is not coming to the banned roads. Eventually, someone would need to call the police and police fines the person or takes him/her to the jail so this is exactly similar to the US. I don't think they need to come up with bans because it just costs more (money & time) and is unnecessary.
 
  • #44
This sort of ASBO does sound odd, especially outside the U.K.
It seems this woman was making sexual noises, above a level that the magistrate deemed excessive.
This would imply, if she kept her noises below a specified decibel level, it would be okay..

I understand the lady's dilemma. It's like forcing yourself to sneeze softly. It's not natural.
It's healthy to be able to vocalize emotions, too..

Outside of moving to the country, where close neighbors aren't an issue, a combination of moving their
bed away from the wall and perhaps using a pillow as a muffler, may be a workable solution o:)
rootX said:
Banning loud sex
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ar/8021185.stm

A woman has been remanded in custody accused of breaching an Asbo banning her from being noisy during sex.

Mrs Cartwright told the court that she was not ‘making the noise on purpose’.

She added: ‘I can’t understand why people ask me to be quiet. It’s normal to me.’

But chairman of the magistrates Alan Griffins said: ‘You were ordered to refrain from screaming and shouting at such levels when engaging in sexual activity with your husband.

reference.
 
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  • #45
rootX said:
I see problem in the enforcement of these decisions and the way they are worded - how they make sure that the person is not coming to the banned roads. Eventually, someone would need to call the police and police fines the person or takes him/her to the jail so this is exactly similar to the US.

It's not similar to the US, though, because without one of these orders, you can't fine or imprison someone for being in a certain street!
 
  • #46
Moonbear said:
If he were in the US, he'd probably be on house arrest with an ankle bracelet, if not sitting in prison.

But then at least there would be a trial, with an ASBO the local council can just order one without any due process.
 
  • #47
mgb_phys said:
But then at least there would be a trial, with an ASBO the local council can just order one without any due process.

There still have to be court hearings for all ASBOs issued. It's not like a council just slaps these things on troublemakers!
 
  • #48
Ouabache said:
But chairman of the magistrates Alan Griffins said: ‘You were ordered to refrain from screaming and shouting at such levels when engaging in sexual activity with your husband.

This is where it all gets to be a mess.

If that is the order, then she must make quiet whoopy with the husband, but all the delivery lads in the neighborhood ... well those would be horses of a different color.
 
  • #49
cristo said:
There still have to be court hearings for all ASBOs issued. It's not like a council just slaps these things on troublemakers!

Only 1% are ever rejected and these are usually high profile political campaigners with lots of lawyers - the rest are pretty much rubber stamped by the local magistrates.
 
  • #50
Evo said:
The point here is that the woman is being too loud and is doing nothing to stop it. It doesn't matter what she is doing when she is disturbing the peace. Singing, playing music. screaming, banging furniture, especially when you are sharing a wall, ceiling/floor with another person, is not acceptable. There are limits to how much noise and when, you are allowed to make. I'm surprised that some posters don't get that there are laws against disturbing the peace., I think that is pretty universal.

I agree, this is the point of the ASBO. The origin of this noise, just made for racy news.