To wonder why Comedians are not arrested/charged?

[Mamaz0n]

I have just seen This on the news.

Now the man is a total nugget. But to be arrested and face a prison term for mocking a disaster that happened 50 years ago.

I wonder why, if this law exists, why people like Frankie Boyle, Chubby Brown, Jimmy Carr etc have not faced such criminal prosecutions.

[BringOnTheGoat]

Was it not more about inciting football violence?

[Mamaz0n]

no he was charged with "using threatening, abusive or insulting words with intent to cause harassment alarm or distress"

the judge said ""This was a deliberate and planned action targeted at a wider audience and considered grossly offensive to both Manchester United FC and Crawley Town FC and the public in general,"


It immediately reminded me of the outrage over Frankie Boyles "jokes" a little while ago.


How can an action that was abstract unless you know the history be deemed as a criminal offence and yet a deliberatly targetted and offensive comment made on a public boradcast be ok?
It doesn't make sense to me.

(disclaimer, i am in no way defending this twunts actions)

[Primafacie]

I'm no expert, but I guess the prosecution would be unable to prove "intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress" in the case of comedians. Their intent is to make people laugh - even though they are sometimes wide off the mark.

[Chil1234]

It's all about context and intent. Boyle's intent is to make people laugh.. he's a professional comedian and he has a well-known reputation for near-the-knuckle humour, even if it's often in poor taste. He may offend (jokes often do) or alarm, but he doesn't threaten or harrass. The man in the article's intent was principally to cause offence and it seems to have been done in a threatening manner aimed at one player in particular. 50 years is not that long a time ago.... my family are Manchester people and the Munich disaster is still well within living memory. If he had performed an anti-Liverpool song using the Hillsborough Disaster to threaten some current player, it would have been just as appalling.

[BakeliteBelle]

YANBU. This is quite absurd.

Frankie Boyle tells disgusting jokes about women with breast cancer and about disabled children etc., and they certainly do cause distress and alarm. Ultimately, humour that picks on vulnerable groups can cause harrassment, as society gets the message that it's ok to take the piss and belittle certain groups, just because they are a vulnerable minority. That is why racist jokes are no longer tolerated. Why we continue to tolerate jokes about disabled people is anyone's guess.

Frankie Boyle gets away with it because lots of media arsewipes come to his defence, whereas this idiot is standing alone

[LaraJade]

So, if katie price walked up to frankie boyle on stage and smacked him across the face in retaliation for his sick 'jokes' about harvey, she shouldn't get charged as long as it's done 'for a laugh??' That would be excellent :).

[CaveMum]

The thing with comedians though is that you know what you are getting when you buy a ticket to their show. If a comedian is known to tell "out there" jokes then people shouldn't be surprised when that is what they get!
DH and I saw Jimmy Carr last year, whilst not quite my cup of tea, I did enjoy 90% of his show. He explained at the start that when he appears on tv shows he will always tone his jokes down as he sees himself as a guest in someones home. But when he is on stage, or on DVD, people have made a conscious decision to watch him so he will always tell more outrageous jokes.

[Primafacie]

LaraJade, smacking someone across the face is not the same as "using threatening words".

Freedom of expression is one of the central tenets of democracy and should only be curtailed when there is a real need to do so - such as when the speech incites hatred or, in the football fan's case, containes a threat. Comedy shows are a different ball game altogether.

I do not enjoy racist jokes, but it is undeniable that one of the fundamental components of humour is mocking people who are different than us - hence jokes about women, the Irish (or, if you are French, the Belgians), etc. Umberto Eco once observed that the reason why reality tv is so big now is that it has become politically incorrect to make fun of idiots, unless the idiots volunteer to make fools of themselves in public, in which case it is acceptable to laugh.