Vincent Bethell
Vincent Michael Bethell is an English man who fights for the right to be naked in public. Above, Bethell (left) led a group called The Freedom to Be Yourself, protesting naked outside Britain's Houses of Parliament in London on June 24, 1998.
Bethell and three others were arrested. You can see the Houses of Parliament in the background.
I think it's an optical illusion, but the arresting officer appears to be giving Bethell a spanking. "You've been a very naughty boy."
Less than two months later on August 8, 1998, the 26-year-old Bethell was protesting anti-nudity laws outside London's Old Bailey (the main criminal court in England) and proclaiming the beauty of the human body.
Always up for a naked protest, here he is at the Glastonbury music festival in 1999.
Bethell really believes in his right to be naked. Here he is riding the London Underground (subway) after appearing at West Magistrate's Court on Aug. 14, 2000.
Bethell was then charged with the crime of "public nuisance," which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. While he was awaiting trial, he spent 5 months in solitary confinement in Brixton Prison, London. At the trial, he made legal history by being the first defendant to stand trial naked in a British court. The trial was at Southwark Crown Court, London. After being naked throughout the trial, Bethell was unanimously found not guilty by the jury.
Above, Bethell leaving the court on Jan. 15, 2001 after being acquitted. I'm guessing they shaved off his hair and beard while he was in prison.
And here's a rear view of him leaving the court. Good luck, Vincent!
6 comments:
Admirably persistent. Not bad looking without the raggedy-ass hair and beard.
Ditto his admirable persistence. I saved the optical illusion image.
This is interesting. According to all that I have read and seen, in England it is LEGAL to be nude in public as long as you are not doing it in an exhibitionistic way and aren't overtly sexual. It appears to me that his problem was his actions of deliberately bringing attention to himself. Of course, there are a lot of people in England who are against public nudity, but I have read accounts of people making a complaint to the police about someone being nude, only to be told that being nude IS legal.
@Gerald - I've also read that public nudity is legal in England, which is probably why people opposed to his nudity charged him with the vague crime of being a "public nuisance".
I've been embarrassed my whole life about my cock being bent over to the side like Vincent, great guy!!
Who knows what Vincent looks like now and what he thinks now of his protest. It's been almost 25 years!
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