Now you CAN be an incorrigible thug: 309 crimes are removed from the law books as obsolete offenses are repealed
- “Being an incorrigible thug” was part of the vagrancy law of 1824
- One of 309 offenses to be repealed or withdrawn by May
- Compared to 201 offenses that were repealed in the previous 12 months
Good news for the incorrigible thugs across England and Wales: you no longer commit crime.
The offense, which came under the vagrancy act of 1824, is one of 309 to be repealed or removed from the statute book in the year to May. This compares to 201 offenses repealed in the previous 12 months.
Other crimes suppressed during this period include “the celebration of marriage outside of specified hours†under the Marriage Act of 1949. This was repealed by the Protection of Freedoms Act of 2012, which removed restrictions on when marriages or civil partnerships can take place.
It is no longer a criminal offense to be an incorrigible thug in England and Wales (stock photo)
Figures released by the Department of Justice show that a single offense – “conspiracy to sell / transfer a pistol being a prohibited weapon” – was prosecuted between January 2008 and September 2013, with a total of 16 prosecutions between 2011 and 2012.
A total of 327 new criminal offenses were created during the same period, an increase of 12% over the previous 12 months.
There has only been one created indictable offense – that is, it is so serious that it can only be tried in a Crown court – under the Law of Antarctica 2013, which makes it an offense to conduct activities in Antarctica, which directly or indirectly give rise to an environmental emergency and are linked to the United Kingdom.
Over 300 offenses were repealed and removed from the statute book in the year to May
The vagrancy law of 1824 was an “act to punish idle and disorderly people, thugs and vagrants.”
It was set up to deal with the problems in England after the Napoleonic Wars as large numbers of soldiers were sent back to the streets without work or housing.
The law, which essentially criminalized sleeping on the streets or begging, is still in force but has been amended several times by subsequent laws.
Of the offenses repealed in the period up to May, 2 percent were criminal-only offenses, 51 percent were summary offenses only, which can be tried in a district court, and 47 percent were tried. in both ways.
