R v Brown (1994) 1 AC 212 is a House of Lords judgment in which a group of men were convicted for their involvement in consensual sadomasochistic sexual acts over a 10 year period. They were convicted of "unlawful and malicious wounding" and "assault occasioning actual bodily harm" contrary to sections 20 and 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. The key issue facing the Court was whether consent was a valid defence to assault in these circumstances, to which the Court answered in the negative.
The case is colloquially known as the Spanner case after Operation Spanner, the investigation which led to it.
Read more about R V Brown: Facts, Judgment, Criticism, Social Impact, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word brown:
“They dragged you from homeland,
They chained you in coffles,
They huddled you spoon-fashion in filthy hatches,
They sold you to give a few gentlemen ease.”
—Sterling Allen Brown (b. 1901)