Object in shop held decent

Press, 21 October 1980, Page 22

Object in shop held decent

PA Wellington A complaint by Miss Patricia Bartlett led to a prosecution bf Wellington’s Venus Shop, the High Court in Wellington was told.

A jury acquitted Venus Shop; Ltd, on a charge of selling an indecent object, an artificial penis with harness attached, Mr Justice Jeffries pre-

~ Opening the,-, case for,, the Crown, Mr 'C. H: Tobgood /said the company admitted selling the ar- . ticle. The only ' question was whether it was an indecent object. There was no statutory definition of "indecent” and the ordinary everyday meaning had to be applied to it, said councel. It implied something that offended against recognised standards of decency and it was for the jury to determine just what those standards were. Detective C. G. Williams, of the C. 1.8., said she went to the shop on September 22, 1978, and saw the article displayed in a show case in a corner

of the shop. She bought it for $20.95. The shop’s plate-glass windows were covered by dark curtains and the contents of the shop could not been seen from the footpath. .

Detective Senior-Ser-geant E. A. Stretton said he visited the shop on December 5, 1978, and spoke to the proprietor,Leslie John Brunell. A sign “RIS" was on the shop door; he said. • • „

In reply to .Mr J.- R. Billington, for the accused company, the witness said that before September, 1978, there had been no complaint to the police about items on 'sale jn the shop. A formal written complaint by Miss Patricia Bartlett on behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards had led to the present investigation. Gerald William Kershaw Bridge, a consulting psychiatrist, in evidence for the defence, said the article had a legitimate use in the correction-of sexual dysfunction and for’ married couples who wished to experiment.