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New Zealand man wins right to jog in nude
A New Zealand man has won the right to jog in the nude after a High Court judge ruled it was not offensive behaviour.
Andrew Lyall Pointon, 47, was running in nothing but a pair of joggers in forest near Tauranga at 8.30am in August last year when a woman saw him and called police.
Mr Pointon was later arrested and charged with offensive behaviour and was found guilty in Tauranga District Court last December.
His first appeal to the High Court was thrown out in June but a second appeal this month was upheld by Justice Paul Heath.
Justice Heath said, "It would not be surprising for a person in the position of the complainant to be concerned and discomforted by their presence and even to feel threatened."
"However, on any view, their behaviour would not be regarded as offensive behaviour.
Justice Heath added that he believed Mr Pointon was 'a genuine naturist' and attempted to avoid offending others by choosing a time when children would not be on the track.
Mr Pointon, who began running in the nude around 18 months ago, said it was "a win for all libertarians and a setback for all conservatives in the country".
"If it was offensive, then God wouldn't have given us genitals," he told The Dominion Post.
A New Zealand man has won the right to jog in the nude after a High Court judge ruled it was not offensive behaviour.
Andrew Lyall Pointon, 47, was running in nothing but a pair of joggers in forest near Tauranga at 8.30am in August last year when a woman saw him and called police.
Mr Pointon was later arrested and charged with offensive behaviour and was found guilty in Tauranga District Court last December.
His first appeal to the High Court was thrown out in June but a second appeal this month was upheld by Justice Paul Heath.
Justice Heath said, "It would not be surprising for a person in the position of the complainant to be concerned and discomforted by their presence and even to feel threatened."
"However, on any view, their behaviour would not be regarded as offensive behaviour.
Justice Heath added that he believed Mr Pointon was 'a genuine naturist' and attempted to avoid offending others by choosing a time when children would not be on the track.
Mr Pointon, who began running in the nude around 18 months ago, said it was "a win for all libertarians and a setback for all conservatives in the country".
"If it was offensive, then God wouldn't have given us genitals," he told The Dominion Post.
