Breaching the peace

A man has been convicted of a breach of the peace and fined £100 in Scotland after admitting taking a photograph of an ill woman who had emerged from a bar to 'get some fresh air'.  Sebastian Przygodzki was arrested when the ill woman took offense at being photographed and called for police to intervene. 

 

Sheriff Kenneth Hogg said the matter "could be best described as exceptionally unchivalrous.  The lady concerned was entitled to her privacy and not to have a passing stranger take a photograph," said the sheriff.

 

So, just to recap, in Scotland it's not a breach of the peace to be 'ill' in a public place, but it is to take a photograph of it?  While I agree that taking the woman's picture was undoubtedly ill-advised and unchivalrous, that's a matter of poor manners, not a matter for a court.  And I presume the same legal test doesn't apply to nearly every paparazzi picture of Amy Winehouse?

 

- BBC News, 3 October 2008