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Weird Cases

Comic and Bizarre Law Cases

Gary Slapper





Jewish mothers: Son phones home after a gap
Son: Mum how are you?
Mum: Very weak, I haven't eaten in 28 days
Son: That's awful. Why haven't you eaten?
Mum: Because I didn't want my mouth to be full of food if you should call.

'Wife sales' though illegal, were common in medieval towns when divorce was impossible expensive. The sales required the wife's consent, and were arranged in advance, usually to the wife's paramour.

Scotland unusual in that legal to marry your mother-in-law or daughter-in-law (or f-i-l or s-i-l) There was no science behind some of the old lists of prohibited degrees of affinity - suspicion that they were the "idle ingenuities" of men who liked drawing up lists.

After a judge decided that it wasn't "unreasonable behaviour" for a wife to ration husband to sex once a week, he said he didn't mind the cheeky headlines that ensued, but he did object to the newspapers that tried to get interviews with his wife.

For poisoning the soup of the Bishop of Rochester in 1530, a man named Rose was publicly boiled to death in London.

A C19 QC had a beloved dog stolen by dog-nappers and had to pay a ransom for its return. He got his revenge two years later when called upon to prosecute the gang. Problem was that dogs weren't classed as chattels, so the punishment for the crime was minimal. So he prosecuted them for stealing the dog collar, which was a felony punishable by transportation.

Some British coastal towns used to punish malefactors by tying them to a stake at low tide and leaving them to drown.

Guy named Chris discovered his wife was having an affair when his parrot, in a perfect imitation of her voice, kept saying "I love you Gary".

Manchester guy imprisoned for blowing up a speed camera that had snapped him. The explosion jolted the camera to take a pic of his vehicle parked at the scene.

Judge had to remind lawyer that "civility is the mark of an accomplished professional".

Lawyer suspended for having sex with her client, a murderer, in an interview room at local jail. As Jay Leno said "How creepy is that, huh? Sex with a lawyer."

Prospective juror: I can't be away from my job for too long.
Judge: Can't they do without you?
PJ: Yes, but I don't want them to know that

JoaAn Karkos of Maine refused to return a library book because she objected to the content. It's Perfectly Normal had candid cartoon treatment of various sexual topics. She was fined $100 but still refused to return the book. But as you might expect, her self-appointed censorship backfired as people from all over the country sent their copies to the library.

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