Sexual Offences Act 1985 (repealed)

F1 Soliciting for the purpose of prostitution E+W

Textual Amendments

F1 Heading substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(2); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

1 Kerb-crawling. E+W

(1) A [F2 person ] commits an offence if he solicits [F3 another person ] (or different [F4 persons ]) for the purpose of prostitution—

(a) from a motor vehicle while it is in a street or public place; or

(b) in a street or public place while in the immediate vicinity of a motor vehicle that he has just got out of or off,

persistently or, F5 . . . in such manner or in such circumstances as to be likely to cause annoyance to [F6 the person ](or any of the [F4 persons ]) solicited, or nuisance to other persons in the neighbourhood.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale F7 . . ..

(3) In this section “motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in [F8 the Road Traffic Act 1988].

Textual Amendments

F2 Word in s. 1 substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(3)(a); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F3 Words in s. 1 substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(3)(b); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F4 Word in s. 1 substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(3)(c); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F5 Words in s. 1(1) repealed (5.11.1993) by 1993, c. 50, s. 1(1); Sch. 1, Pt. I Gp. 1

F6 Words in s. 1 substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(3)(d); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F7 Words in s. 1(2) repealed (5.11.1993) by 1993, c. 50, s. 1(1); Sch. 1, Pt. XIV

F8 Words substituted by Road Traffic (Consequential Provisions) Act 1988 (c. 54, SIF 107:1), s. 4, Sch. 4 para. 29

2 [F9 Persistent soliciting ]. E+W

(1) A [F10 person ] commits an offence if in a street or public place he persistently solicits a [F11 another person ] (or different [F12 persons ]) for the purpose of prostitution.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale F13 . . ..

Textual Amendments

F9 S. 2 heading substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(4)(a); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F10 Word in s. 2(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(4)(b); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F11 Words in s. 2(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(4)(c); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F12 Word in s. 2(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(4)(d); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F13 Words in s. 2(2) repealed (5.11.1993) by 1993, c. 50, s. 1(1); Sch. 1, Pt. XIV

Increase of penalties E+W

F14 3 Penalties for certain sexual offences. E+W

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F14 S. 3 repealed (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 7; S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

Supplementary E+W

4 Interpretation. E+W

(1) References in this Act to a [F15 person ] soliciting[F16 another person ] for the purpose of prostitution are references to his soliciting [F17 that person ] for the purpose of obtaining [F18 that person’s ] services as a prostitute.

F19 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F19 (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4) For the purposes of this Act “street” includes any bridge, road, lane, footway, subway, square, court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, which is for the time being open to the public; and the doorways and entrances of premises abutting on a street (as hereinbefore defined), and any ground adjoining and open to a street, shall be treated as forming part of the street.

Textual Amendments

F15 Word in s. 4(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(5)(b); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F16 Words in s. 4(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(5)(c); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F17 Words in s. 4(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(5)(d); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F18 Words in s. 4(1) substituted (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(5)(e); S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F19 S. 4(2)(3) repealed (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 1 para. 4(5)(a), Sch. 7; S.I. 2004/874, art. 2; S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

5 Short title, commencement etc. E+W

(1) This Act may be cited as the Sexual Offences Act 1985.

F20 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) The enactments mentioned in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(4) This Act shall come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which it is passed.

(5) Nothing in this Act shall apply in relation to any offence committed or act done before this Act comes into force.

F21 (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7) This Act extends to England and Wales only.

Textual Amendments

F20 S. 5(2) repealed (1.5.2004) by Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42), s. 141, Sch. 7; S.I. 2004/874, art. 2

F21 S. 5(6) repealed (5.11.1993) by 1993, c. 50, s. 1(1); Sch. 1, Pt.I Gp. 1