What’s a real but strange court case from your country?
10 comments
Emma de Souza’s case in Northern Ireland / UK is fairly unique. All about the slightly odd citizenship and nationality we have here
One I always used to like telling my students about was R v Holland. It’s both ridiculous and also really quite sad. (I should clarify that I taught at university level, so not kids!)
Andrew Holland was charged with possessing extreme pornography which allegedly depicted a woman having sex with a tiger. The case gets all the way to court without anyone actually watching the video in question with sound, because what it actually depicted a woman having sex with a man in a Tony the Tiger costume who turns to the camera, sticks his thumb up, and says, “that’s grrrrrrreat!” (a reference to a well-known advertising gimmick).
Luckily, the charges against Holland were dropped. Unfortunately, the case gained a level of notoriety, and Holland has spoken out about the extreme abuse he experienced as a result of the case which led to him having a heart attack. All because he clicked on a video a friend sent him in an email, not even knowing what the content was before he opened it.
From Wikipedia:
*On 6 July 1966, the Administrative Tribunal of Rennes summarized the French government’s claims that lobsters are like fish and that since they swim about in the open sea, they could not be considered part of the continental shelf. Brazil claimed that lobsters are like oysters in that they cling to the bottom of the ocean and so were part of the continental shelf. Admiral Paulo Moreira da Silva, Brazil’s Navy expert in the field of oceanography who had been sent to assist the diplomatic committee during the general discussions, argued that for Brazil to accept the French scientific thesis that a lobster would be considered a fish when it “leaps” on the seafloor, it would be required in the same way to accept the Brazilian premise that when a kangaroo “hops”, it would be considered a bird.*
The lobster representatives present in the Administrative Tribunal of Rennes argued: *blublub* (roughly translated: “humans are silly greedy creatures”)
The French administrative court ruled in favor of Brazil, thus ending the apocalyptic Lobster War of 1961-1963
After the tax authorities classified Jaffa cakes as biscuits, the manufacturer went to court to argue (successfully) that they are in fact cakes. (Jaffa cakes resemble biscuits in many respects and are sold alongside them.)
Biscuits are liable to be taxed at the full rate of VAT, whereas cakes are exempt.
Stephen Gough The Naked Rambler.
Ex Royal Marine walks from John O’groats to Lands end in 2003-2004 while naked.
Tries again in 2005 was arrested in Scotland for public indecency, released then arrested for contempt for continuing his walk.
Between 2005 and 2016 he was arrested over 40 times and spent more than 6 years behind bars.
<edit> former Glasgow Rangers captain not known for rambling outside of interviews
Czech actress [**Lída Baarová**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%ADda_Baarov%C3%A1) was a movie superstar in Czechoslovakia, Germany and Italy until 1945. Before the war, she was the mistress of **Joseph Goebbels** – the two were in love and Goebbels wanted to leave his family and go to Japan with her (Hitler stopped him, however). Furthermore, the script for her most famous film was written by a locally known Czech collaborator, but apart from her love affair and social contacts, she showed no inclination towards Nazism (nor did the themes and content of her films). She was already a very controversial person during the war.
After the war, she tried to escape to Germany, but was arrested and investigated by the American CIC. She was then handed over to the Czechoslovak authorities, interrogated for 16 months and tried for collaboration.
And now comes the interesting moment – all the charges against her were gradually refuted. Her relationship with Goebbels was assessed to have stemmed from true love, and her contacts with German and protectorate figures to be exclusively social.
Ireland 🇮🇪
A man, Malcolm McArthur, who had lived off his inheritance for his whole adult life, ran out of money and decided to steal a shotgun he’d seen advertised in a newspaper.
However, the shotgun was out in the countryside, so he decided to steal a car to get there.
Naturally, his method of stealing a car was to find one in the Phoenix Park, the main city centre park in Dublin, where a nurse was sitting, and bludgeon them to death.
A passing ambulance then stopped and took the victim to hospital because the car had a hospital sticker on the windshield. McArthur carried on, visited the man – a farmer- who was selling the shotgun, asked to use it, and shot him dead.
He then stole the farmer’s car as well and drove it back to Dublin.
So far, so (kinda) normal?
Well, he drove to the home of the Attorney General with whom he was friends. He was detected and arrested, during which operation the Attorney General packed a suitcase and flew to the USA.
It later transpired that during his stay with the Attorney General, the Attorney General had taken him to Croke Park to watch the all-Ireland football final, an event which was attended by around a hundred thousand people and broadcast live on the country’s television station.
The Attorney General resigned.
It wasn’t “Italy” back then but Rome is Rome.
In 897 they brought the corpse of a deceased Pope to court, to stand trial. He was found guilty btw.
a woman “accidently” cut off her arm with a chainsaw. she demanded insurance money. she was insured by herself, her bf and his parents at variuos insurance companies. they didn’t got the money, were arrested and senteced for fraud. they got a prison time, but higher court overturned the judgement. they were sentenced again, they made a deal with prosecutor’s office and got probation. she was later prosecuted again for bank fraud, and boyfriend was suspected for murdering his ex gf some years prior.
Croatia 🇭🇷 – a woman killed her sister and kept her corpse in a family freezer for almost 20 years…
10 comments
Emma de Souza’s case in Northern Ireland / UK is fairly unique. All about the slightly odd citizenship and nationality we have here
One I always used to like telling my students about was R v Holland. It’s both ridiculous and also really quite sad. (I should clarify that I taught at university level, so not kids!)
Andrew Holland was charged with possessing extreme pornography which allegedly depicted a woman having sex with a tiger. The case gets all the way to court without anyone actually watching the video in question with sound, because what it actually depicted a woman having sex with a man in a Tony the Tiger costume who turns to the camera, sticks his thumb up, and says, “that’s grrrrrrreat!” (a reference to a well-known advertising gimmick).
Luckily, the charges against Holland were dropped. Unfortunately, the case gained a level of notoriety, and Holland has spoken out about the extreme abuse he experienced as a result of the case which led to him having a heart attack. All because he clicked on a video a friend sent him in an email, not even knowing what the content was before he opened it.
From Wikipedia:
*On 6 July 1966, the Administrative Tribunal of Rennes summarized the French government’s claims that lobsters are like fish and that since they swim about in the open sea, they could not be considered part of the continental shelf. Brazil claimed that lobsters are like oysters in that they cling to the bottom of the ocean and so were part of the continental shelf. Admiral Paulo Moreira da Silva, Brazil’s Navy expert in the field of oceanography who had been sent to assist the diplomatic committee during the general discussions, argued that for Brazil to accept the French scientific thesis that a lobster would be considered a fish when it “leaps” on the seafloor, it would be required in the same way to accept the Brazilian premise that when a kangaroo “hops”, it would be considered a bird.*
The lobster representatives present in the Administrative Tribunal of Rennes argued: *blublub* (roughly translated: “humans are silly greedy creatures”)
The French administrative court ruled in favor of Brazil, thus ending the apocalyptic Lobster War of 1961-1963
After the tax authorities classified Jaffa cakes as biscuits, the manufacturer went to court to argue (successfully) that they are in fact cakes. (Jaffa cakes resemble biscuits in many respects and are sold alongside them.)
Biscuits are liable to be taxed at the full rate of VAT, whereas cakes are exempt.
Stephen Gough The Naked Rambler.
Ex Royal Marine walks from John O’groats to Lands end in 2003-2004 while naked.
Tries again in 2005 was arrested in Scotland for public indecency, released then arrested for contempt for continuing his walk.
Between 2005 and 2016 he was arrested over 40 times and spent more than 6 years behind bars.
<edit> former Glasgow Rangers captain not known for rambling outside of interviews
Czech actress [**Lída Baarová**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%ADda_Baarov%C3%A1) was a movie superstar in Czechoslovakia, Germany and Italy until 1945. Before the war, she was the mistress of **Joseph Goebbels** – the two were in love and Goebbels wanted to leave his family and go to Japan with her (Hitler stopped him, however). Furthermore, the script for her most famous film was written by a locally known Czech collaborator, but apart from her love affair and social contacts, she showed no inclination towards Nazism (nor did the themes and content of her films). She was already a very controversial person during the war.
After the war, she tried to escape to Germany, but was arrested and investigated by the American CIC. She was then handed over to the Czechoslovak authorities, interrogated for 16 months and tried for collaboration.
And now comes the interesting moment – all the charges against her were gradually refuted. Her relationship with Goebbels was assessed to have stemmed from true love, and her contacts with German and protectorate figures to be exclusively social.
Ireland 🇮🇪
A man, Malcolm McArthur, who had lived off his inheritance for his whole adult life, ran out of money and decided to steal a shotgun he’d seen advertised in a newspaper.
However, the shotgun was out in the countryside, so he decided to steal a car to get there.
Naturally, his method of stealing a car was to find one in the Phoenix Park, the main city centre park in Dublin, where a nurse was sitting, and bludgeon them to death.
A passing ambulance then stopped and took the victim to hospital because the car had a hospital sticker on the windshield. McArthur carried on, visited the man – a farmer- who was selling the shotgun, asked to use it, and shot him dead.
He then stole the farmer’s car as well and drove it back to Dublin.
So far, so (kinda) normal?
Well, he drove to the home of the Attorney General with whom he was friends. He was detected and arrested, during which operation the Attorney General packed a suitcase and flew to the USA.
It later transpired that during his stay with the Attorney General, the Attorney General had taken him to Croke Park to watch the all-Ireland football final, an event which was attended by around a hundred thousand people and broadcast live on the country’s television station.
The Attorney General resigned.
It wasn’t “Italy” back then but Rome is Rome.
In 897 they brought the corpse of a deceased Pope to court, to stand trial. He was found guilty btw.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaver_Synod
a woman “accidently” cut off her arm with a chainsaw. she demanded insurance money. she was insured by herself, her bf and his parents at variuos insurance companies. they didn’t got the money, were arrested and senteced for fraud. they got a prison time, but higher court overturned the judgement. they were sentenced again, they made a deal with prosecutor’s office and got probation. she was later prosecuted again for bank fraud, and boyfriend was suspected for murdering his ex gf some years prior.
Croatia 🇭🇷 – a woman killed her sister and kept her corpse in a family freezer for almost 20 years…