It was a Friday in October 1937, in Blackrock, County Louth. Julia Clarke had been seen kissing her boyfriend in public. Three witnesses reported them to the police and they were brought to court. At the time, Ireland had a law, Section 18 of the 1935 Criminal Law Amendment Act, that had an ambiguous phrasing which made it open to interpretation. In essence, it stated that if anybody was caught committing acts that might offend or cause a scandal, they will be considered guilty.
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The judge, District Justice Goff, who presided their case, inquired of the state of the defendants at the time of their sighting. According to witnesses, the boy was a bit inebriated at the time, but respectable in his manner. And so, the judge let the boy go provided that he donate £2 to charity and paid the court fees. Julia Clarke, on the other hand, was said to not have had any drink and that she had no past criminal record.
Given the circumstances, the boy’s case was dismissed and he was proclaimed innocent, but Clarke was declared guilty of public indecency, and sentenced to one month’s imprisonment. Since Clarke lived in Scotland and had only been on a holiday in Ireland, the sentence practically kept her banished from Ireland. Seemingly, the reason for Goff’s sentence was to keep ‘those kind of people’ away from Ireland.
Later on, Julia Clarke was asked what she thought about the sentence, and the short clip above shows her just laughing it off.
(Video credit: British Pathé/Youtube)
Source: neatorama