NO OFFENCE COMMITTED

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 192, 29 July 1932, Page 7

NO OFFENCE COMMITTED

MAN CLAD IN LOIN CLOTH AND SHOES. MAGISTRATE’S COMMENT. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, June 29. Charles Perrin, who appeared recently in Willis street clad only in a loin cloth and shoes, was declared by Mr E. Page, S.M., to-day in a reserved decision not to have committed an offence.

The charge was of behaving in a disorderly manner. Mr Page held that while the appearance of a person in grotesque costume in a public street might cause some excitement in itself, in the absence of other circumstances, did not constitute disordc ' ichaviour. Save for the fact that he was thus clad the defendant’s conduct was in no way riotous or disorderly. His presence on the streets in grotesque garb would, no doubt, attract some attention and might tend to cause a number of the public to follow him. The same might be said of methods quite commonly adopted for the purpose of advertisement. One occasionally saw, for example, a clown in full dress paraded through the streets to advertise a travelling circus or, perhaps, a bevy of voung people clad in South Sea Island costume paraded to advertise a visiting picture. To come within the section of the Act quoted he thought that something more was needed—something in the nature of noisy, quarrelsome, abusive or unruly behaviour disturbing to the public peace; nor did he think that the garb Perrin was wearing could be held to be an indecent one so as to bring the defendant within the provisions of the Act relating to public decency. Boxers and wrestlers regularly appeared and performed in public more scantily clad than was the defendant.