Loud sex: A jailable offense?

Caroline Cartwright got a suspended sentence, but she'll go to jail if her noisy lovemaking bothers neighbors again

A British woman who received several citations for having sex too loud was spared jail time — for now. But Judge Beatrice Bolton gave the woman, Caroline Cartwright, an eight-week suspended sentence, and vowed to throw her behind bars if she disturbs neighbors again. Cartwright had invoked the U.K.'s Human Rights Act, saying she had a right to "respect for her private and family life." But Bolton said a recording proved that Cartwright and her husband, Steve, made no effort to comply with an order to curb their noisy lovemaking. "It needs to be a prison sentence because you need to be deterred," Bolton said. Is jail time excessive punishment for noisy sex?

Something must be done to make Cartwright quiet: Loud sex is one thing, says Lester Haines in Britain's The Register. But we're talking about "unnaturally loud" sex that was making the lives of Steve and Caroline Cartwright's neighbors miserable. "The noise sounds like they are both in considerable pain," said next-door neighbor Rachel O'Connor. Cartwright violated a court order, so she has to accept whatever punishment the judge metes out.

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