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Operation Spanner
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As part of a 'routine' police investigation British Police uncovered a number
of video tapes which included various SM sex scenes. Believing, so they said,
that people must have been seriously injured they launched an investigation.

The Following is a (near) transcript of a leaflet issued by 'Countdown on
Spanner' the pressure group campaigning against the current law:

SM:LEGALITY VALIDITY EQUALITY

16 gay men were convicted as a result of a three year police
investigation called Operation Spanner. When they were arrested the
crimes did not actually exist. Under British law it had always been
accepted that consent was a defence against charges of assault in
consenting sex. But as their first trial the Judge - James Rant
- dismissed their consent as  immaterial . This meant that their
consenting acts of SM play were viewed as cold blooded assaults and
the men were sentenced fo prison terms of 3-6 years.

Five of the men appealed, once fo the Criminal Courts where their
sentences were reduced, and lastly and most recently to the Law
Lords. This is the highest Court of Appeal. It is similar to the
Supreme Court except there is no written constitution in Britain and
the Law Lords judgement therefore, is based on previous rulings by
judges and Law Lords. Their judgement was delivered on March 11 th
1993. The Appeal was lost and  two men went back to prison.
The Law Lords judgement contains every myth and popular misconception
about SM - That it is cruel or violent or inherently unsafe or
dangerous. Throughout the 60 page document the submissives/bottoms
are portrayed as  victims  incapable of informed consent. It cites
suppression of  homosexual sadomasochism  as a defence of family
values and even attempts fo justify the convictions on the grounds
that SM sex is a high risk HIV activity. They are not the only SMers
in Britain receiving harassment. Heterosexual couples have been
prosecuted under prostitution laws even though no money was
exchanged; gay leather clubs have been visited by the police; and two
weeks after the judgement a heterosexual/mixed sm-fetish club was
raided by the police.

But the Law Lords did split 3:2 on this decision. Those supporting
the appeal did so in the strongest terms. Lord Slynn of Hadley said
,"it is not for the courts in the interests of paternalism or in
Order to protect people from themselves, to introduce into existing
crimes concepts which do not properly fit there." Not only that but
editorials in the leading  heavyweight  press condemned the decision.
On top of this The Law Commission, a legal advisory body of lawyers,
has announced that it intends fo examine the whole issue surrounding
consensual sex and assault.

THE APPEAL TO EUROPE
 l find the support given to me and Tony Brown by the demonstrators
and offer sympathisers gives me great strength in overcoming the
trauma of being returned to prison for the  crime  of having
consenting sex with adults. I intend to take his case as far as
possible, and need and welcome the support of both gay and straight
people in eventually obtain justice!  Four of the five men are
committed to taking the case fo Europe and Liberty (a civil rights
pressure group) is funding a case by a gay man, a lesbian and a
heterosexual couple.

A European Court of Human rights ruling is binding for any country
which has signed ifs charter. Britain is one of these signatories and
previous rulings by this court have brought the legislation of gay
sex for N. Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The European
Court, which is not part of the EEC but has 26 European signatories,
can force a country to change ifs laws if if sees fit. Britain, who
has been taken to this court more times than any other member
country, has a good record on obeying the court rulings. But the case
of the four Spanner men will cost money possibly as much as #100,000
($1b0,000) - and may take as long as four years. And while British
SMers ore unifying across sexuality and geographical lines to raise
this money, we need YOUR support.
The courts continual denial of the importance of the men s consented
is the most disturbing aspect of the case. At the appeal Lord Lane
ruled that  the question
of consent was immaterial  in cases of  assaulted  concerning the
 satisfaction of a sadomasochistic libido.  The notion that we have
no right to choose what we do with our own bodies will be similar we
abortion rights campaigners, rape victims whose right to say no is
frequently questioned in the courts and children subjected to
corporal punishment against their will. The Spanner case may be the
first time this reasoning has been extended to consenting adult
sadomasochists but the logic is the same. According to the judges we
have no right to personal autonomy. Our bodies belong, not to
ourselves but to the state, or to husbands or to fathers or to some
other authority. Therefore consent, or the Lack of it, is immaterial!

LAW OR LUNACY
The denial of the Spanner defendants rights to choose
what to do with their own bodies has led to a series of ludicrous
laws. The judgements mean that body piercings for decoration are
quite legal but for  the satisfaction of a sadomasochistic libido  are
illegal. In practice this means that you are permitted to gent your
body pierced if you experience only pain. If you also experience
pleasure, however, a serious criminal assault has taken place! The
Law Lord s opinion in the Spanner judgement together with recent test
cases has confirmed that it is legal br adults to beat children in
their care for purposes of  lawful correction or chastisement  whilst
the same activity between consenting adults is a criminal assault!
Despite Lord Lane s assertion that consent is  immaterial  in cases
concerning SM several of the men were convicted of  aiding and
abetting  assaults on themselves! How did these men aid and abet the
assaults? Erm. . . well. . . presumably by consenting to them.
Consent, it seems, is only  immaterial  when it suits the courts! The
courts and police claim to be trying to protect people from
themselves. These legal absurdities expose the fact that the Spanner
Case is not about  assault  at all but about sex.

COUNTDOWN ON SPANNER
 Every adult who has an interest in defending civil liberties should
be angered by the Spanner judgement. It represents a fundamental
attack on the sexual civil liberties oft every adult in Britain and
every adult thinking oft visiting Britain... and in particular, it
has serious implications for sadomasochists, lesbians, gay men,
bisexuals and other sexual minorities.

 Kellan Farshea, Founder of Countdown on Spanner
Founded in duly 1992, if is a mixed sexuality group of SMers and our
supporters. Over 100 people attended the first meeting and we have
initiated the first positive campaign around SM rights in Britain. We
lead a high profile media defence oft the Spanner Men and
successfully turned liberal opinion around from one of condemnation
of the men to condemnation of the judgement.

We have brought British SMers together for the first time and
organised Britain s first SM Pride March - which attracted over 750
people. We have picketed the police and the courts, organised a lobby
of the Law Lords and taken our demand for freedom and equality into
the public at large about the effects of the Spanner ruling and how
we can avoid being arrested.We are hoping fo organise regional
fundraising groups for SMers that don t have access to London s SM
scene.

WE NEED *YOUR* HELP- WHAT YOU CAN DO

Spread the word!

Organise a benefit or fundraiser for the Appeal to Europe.

Support the Amnesty International campaign. These  men are not
eligible at present for adoption by AI because they were convicted of
crimes that are not gay specific.

Send off for our INFOPAK. It contains a summary of the case and its
implications; a legal guide for SM activities in Britain and how to
avoid arrest; and a list of our activities and merchandise.

Please, Give a donation!!!!!

Countdown on Spanner can be reached via Snail Mail;

C/O Central Station
37 Wharfdale Road
London N1
Great Britain

Please include a SAE.

Meetings are held on the last Sunday of every month at 7.30pm at Central
Station.

Or contact me via e-mail: phas@siva.bris.ac.uk