Watch the video and then discuss the advice you would offer before comparing your ideas with those suggested.

Suggestions

  • In R v Johnson [1997] the Court of Appeal held that making obscene telephone calls to a number of women in a geographic area was a public nuisance.
  • However, the House of Lords indicated in R v Rimmington [2006] that such behaviour is unlikely to amount to a public nuisance as they were separate calls made to separate people rather than to a class of people.
  • The House of Lords also stated that common law offences such as public nuisance should not be used for conduct covered by a statutory offence unless there was a good reason. Rimmington could have been prosecuted under a statutory provision.
  • A recent Law Commission Report in 2015 indicated that the Crown Prosecution Service will still sometimes charge defendants with public nuisance for nuisance telephone calls despite a relevant statutory provision.