Part 1
October 1997
The new British Government passed into law the Corporal Punishment of Young Offenders Act on 1st October 1997. The immediate acceptance of the provisions of the Act by the general public was thought by most commentators to reflect the previous gulf between public opinion and the influence of the chattering classes under the previous Government. The Act took the country by surprise initially because it hadn't formed part of any election manifesto, or even been the result of a political campaign. But it was simply widely welcomed as common sense at a time when youth crime of all descriptions was increasing year by year.
My name's Peter Neale. I'm a cop, 'policeman' in British English. I've been working for my present police Authority for twenty years since I started on the beat at the age of eighteen. I'm now on the motorcycle division, which suits me fine. I'm not going to make sergeant or any other higher grade, and that suits me fine: I know my job, and I do it well. Having become cynical about the powers permitted to law enforcement officers, I was totally amazed when the new Act was passed rapidly through Parliament. In fact I think it took us all by surprise, even more when we studied its provisions and realised that it had been very carefully constructed. Here are the first two pages :
HM GOVERNMENT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT 1997
"1. For the purpose of this Act the term 'young offender' means a male aged between twelve and twenty years of age inclusive.
2. For the purpose of this Act the term 'corporal punishment' means a whipping of the offender's buttocks by an approved operator (see below).
3. This Act gives summary powers to police authorities to punish a young offender who admits his guilt AND is either (a) caught in the commission of a crime and/or (b) where the evidence is compelling (see Appendix) that he committed the crime.
4. The normal process of preliminary investigation and enquiry shall be followed up to the stage of charging with the offence.
5. The senior police officer on duty at the time that the offender would be charged may, where it is considered appropriate, suggest corporal punishment instead of formal charging.
6. The option to administer corporal punishment shall only be exercised subject to the consent in writing of the offender if aged eighteen or over, or of the offender's parents or guardians if under the age of eighteen.
7. The punishment shall be carried out as soon as possible after the decision has been made, and in no case more than three hours later.
8. The whipping shall consist of up to thirty-six strokes with a cane or other instrument approved for this purpose by the Home Office.
9. The number of strokes shall be determined by the senior police officer on duty at the time of charging, and a lay person nominated by the police authority for the purpose, in conjunction with the operator.
10. In all cases the whipping shall be administered only by an operator specifically approved for the purpose by the police authority, in the presence of the senior police officer on duty and the nominated lay person.
11. In all cases the offender's buttocks shall be covered by a single garment.
12. If required, the offender may be subject to appropriate restraint during the punishment.
13. In all cases an adult representative of the young offender shall be permitted to be present during the punishment. This is not to be construed as a condition of the punishment.
14. Every punishment shall be recorded throughout with both sound, and vision from a position which clearly shows all the participants, on an approved videorecorder, and a copy of the tape shall be retained for five years by the police authority. The same protocol shall apply to the act of recording as for recording the interrogation of suspects, except for the requirement to furnish the offender with a copy of the tape.
15. In the case of unruly or insubordinate behaviour by the offender during the punishment, the senior police officer and nominated lay person, in consultation with the operator, may summarily award additional penalty strokes up to a maximum of twenty five per cent of the original sentence. The offender shall be cautioned of this before the punishment begins. The reason for such a penalty shall be put in a written report.
16. A medical questionnaire (Appendix, Form CPYO6) shall be completed by the police authority before the punishment is administered, using information provided by the young offender if he is eighteen years of age or over, or by his parents or guardians if he is under eighteen.
If the answers to the questions result in a score with a negative value the corporal punishment shall be cancelled, and the offender shall be referred to the juvenile courts if thought appropriate by the authority.
17. It is a condition of this Act that after the corporal punishment has been administered, the charges against the young offender shall be withdrawn, and all records related to them destroyed, except the records of the punishment itself which shall be maintained locally by the police authority for five years."
*****
And so it goes on for twenty pages, many of which are taken up with the records which must be kept, and with the mechanisms of approval for the 'operator.' I had hardly taken in the sudden change in opinion towards young offenders, when about a month before the Act became law I received a letter from my employers, the police authority:
Private & Confidential
Dear Mr Neale Corporal Punishment of Young Offenders Act 1997 I would be glad if you would call in so that I can discuss with you whether you would be willing to be enrolled as an Operator under the terms of the new Act. We are seeking to recruit four Operators for this Authority, and as the Act is due to come into Law in a month's time, I need to proceed expeditiously. My secretary will contact you to arrange a mutually convenient appointment.
If you definitely do not wish to proceed any further please let me know straight away. I hope this is not the case, as I have been advised that you would be a very suitable candidate.
Please do not discuss this with anyone else until we have met.
Yours etc
CHIEF CONSTABLE For Es_s_e_x_ Police Authority
When I read the letter my first thought was along the lines of 'if only you knew!' I'm not an emotional man (and I'm not married, though that has no bearing on this). Like many of my generation I was brought up in a family whose liberal values in the end conspired to destroy it. I've seen at first hand the results of the erosion of traditional values, and parental and school authority. I've watched with feelings of frustration and helplessness as teenage vandals, football hooligans and car thieves have walked away from police custody, smirking because they knew they were beyond our power. I've listened to parents and teachers asking where they went wrong, or complaining that they couldn't control their teenage charges. Oh yes, I had no difficulty at all in agreeing to be enrolled as an Operator under the terms of the Corporal Punishment of Young Offenders Act.
The interview with my boss, the Chief Constable, was easy. He was one of the old school, a liberal thinker, embarrassed that he was going to be responsible for introducing the new Act in our Authority, and simply anxious to get it off his desk as quickly as possible.
Next I was sent to an army camp in Dorset for a day's course in how to do it. There were about twenty of us from around the UK, ranging in age from about twenty five up to fifty five: looking round I couldn't discern any common factor in the future Operators other than that we all had short hair, and none of us smoked. Our teacher was a retired Sergeant-Major of about sixty, with a pencil moustache and grizzled grey hair: nobody told us why he was thought qualified to teach us how to cane teenage boys, and he offered no explanation. The first half of the day was spent in training us about the official requirements of the Act, the forms to be filled in, and the rights of the offender and his parents. The medical issues were more complicated. The British Medical association had refused to allow doctors to have anything to do with the punishments, which they said were 'torture', and had thrown the responsibility for them back at the government Accordingly somebody had devised a medical form, the one mentioned in the act, which when completed would result in a positive or negative score for the boy. If the score was positive we could go ahead, if it was negative, we couldn't.
After lunch we got to the practical side. We were told that there was to be no standard method of handling the boy during the punishment: the Act allowed for 'appropriate' restraint to be used where we thought it necessary. The Sergeant-Major thought the best plan was to have a purpose-built punishment block in the room, and to put the boy over it with light restraints to wrists and ankles: this offered a degree of immediate control which could be increased quickly if necessary. He had some pictures of suitable designs, which we discussed. Listening to him, I wondered if he had ever been involved in caning a teenage boy.
The last session was devoted to the cane itself. The Sergeant-Major opened a box that contained about fifty canes of various diameters and lengths. He selected three that he passed round to us: these were the ones that had been approved. As I studied them I thought that there was nothing exceptional about them: they ranged from about three feet long and quarter of an inch in diameter up to four feet long and half an inch in diameter, intended for different groups of offenders. They were what we used to know as standard Home Office issue, originally intended for use in the old Approved Schools, and now rushed out into circulation again. They were not very flexible but were extremely effective when applied professionally. I spoke up and asked if these were the only ones we could use.
At the back of the room there was a Home Office official who hadn't said anything so far. When I asked this question he stood up. He drew our attention to the clause in the act that mentioned other instruments approved by the Home Office: they hadn't yet been defined, he said. The Home Office thought that we wouldn't need anything other than the canes, but off the record they were going to wait six months to give us, the Operators, time to give them some feedback on what else might be appropriate. During that time, we were to record what we used and comment on its effectiveness for the purpose of the Act. He expected us to use discretion; anything that was over the top, or tainted with sadistic undertones, would not be acceptable and could result in disciplinary action for us individually. 'Specifically' he added, 'we do not wish to see the birch brought back.' Several people suggested other possibilities, such as a strap or belt, but the official made no further comment other than to say that the Home Office expected there to be some local variations in practice.
After discussion of further minutiae, when it was getting near the end of the day, some wag got up and asked: 'Aren't you going to ask for volunteers so you can show us how to do it then?' The room erupted in raucous laughter. The Sergeant-Major smiled for the first time. 'The one thing I am certain of is that none of you, who have all been selected for this course, need any instruction in how to do it.' This brought cat-calls and cheers around the room. When this had subsided, the Home Office official stood up, and said quietly: 'This is a distinct new direction for all of us. Whether or not it is effective in preventing juvenile crime is going to depend to a very large extent on you, and it needs to be said that we are very grateful to you all for agreeing to act at the sharp end. I don't need to remind you that your bearing and behaviour when you are dealing with the offenders will be almost as important to the outcome as what you actually do to them.' The Act passed into law 2 weeks later.
To be continued
Part 2
Nothing happened for another week. I was out on my motorbike patrol at out midday on a Monday, and had just stopped and was walking over to a speeding driver, when I was called on my radio. '23. Code 36. Please return to base.' I felt a shiver of anticipation. 'Code 36' was the abbreviation we had assigned to a potential corporal punishment. I told the motorist it was his lucky day, and headed back to base. The desk sergeant looked relieved when he saw me come through the door in my leathers, and took me round the back to his office. 'We've got a young lad who looks like he'll need a spanking, and it's your name down for today. The lay person is on his way, and then the super wants you both to meet him in his office.' There was a knock on the door, and John Thornton came in. He is a local builder, about ten years older than me, one of the local worthies who is on all sorts of committees. The sergeant said: 'Thank you for coming so soon, Mr Thornton, It looks as if we shall be launching the new Act today as far as this town is concerned. Let's go straight up to the Superintendent.' We went up to the Super's office. 'Come in,' he shouted. He sat behind a large desk, looking harassed. 'Take a seat, Mr Thornton, please. Thank you for helping us today. I'm anxious that we get everything right as it's the first time we've made use of the new Act.' 'What's the case?' asked Thornton.' 'It's pretty straightforward from the police point of view. An eighteen year old boy caught shop-lifting. He admits it. He's also well aware of the possibilities under the new Act, and he's frightened.' I started to feel calmer, and colder; this is more like it. 'I don't think we need to spend much more time on discussion. I'm going to be suggesting an intermediate penalty ....twenty four strokes, unless you disagree, Mr Thornton?' Almost as an afterthought he added 'Or you, Officer Neale?' Thornton said 'Let's see what the boy has to say for himself, but I wouldn't disagree in principle.' I said I agreed with that. The Superintendent nodded to the constable at the back of the room who opened the door, and led us down the corridor and stone steps to an interrogation room. As we entered I saw the boy spring to his feet, and I realised that I knew him, though I didn't think he knew me. He was the son of a local businessman, well-to-do family, lived in one of the outlying villages.. He was a good looking lad, about five foot ten, with longish dark hair. He was wearing battered old Levis, and a T-shirt, and looked very scared. A young policeman stood behind him impassively, against the wall. The boy looked at the four of us, and I saw him particularly taking in my motorcycle leathers. He blurted out 'What are you going to do to me? I've never been in trouble before.'
'Sit down, Stephen' said the Superintendent, in a matter of fact voice. Slowly the boy sat down, and the Super took a chair opposite him. He started the interrogation tape recorder. 'This is Superintendent Barnes interviewing Steven Barratt on 14 October 1997 at 1230 hours. Also present are John Thornton, Officer Peter Neale, and Constable Philip James. Mr Barratt, you are aged eighteen, and you are entitled to be legally represented if you wish. Do you?' 'For God's sake, no,' the boy said immediately. 'If my father finds out about this, he'll kill me. Please just get on with it.' The Super waited a moment, and then went on: 'OK, let me just run through this again, Stephen. Constable James here was called to the music shop by the manager, who had caught you stealing two CDs. The constable arrested you, and brought you here, where he took a statement from you in which you admit you committed the crime. For the record I have the signed statement in front of me. Is that correct, Stephen?'
The boy slowly nodded his head. 'I need to hear you say it, lad.' 'Yes, sir, it's correct.' He was well-spoken, and apart from his clothes looked most unlike most of the juveniles that usually pass through our hands. 'Is there anything you want to add to the statement, Stephen?' 'No sir' 'You understand that I can now charge you with the crime, and you will go to court, where you will be fined, and put on probation, which, I'm sure I don't have to remind you, will have a devastating effect on your future prospects?' 'Yes, sir,' quieter again. The Super paused for about fifteen seconds. 'Under the terms of the new Act I can offer you the alternative of summary corporal punishment, if you are willing to consent to it. The records relating to your crime would be destroyed afterwards, and you would be able to walk from this building as a free man.' I was thinking to myself, he won't be doing much walking if I have anything to do with it, but of course the boy didn't know that. 'Will you take the corporal punishment, Stephen?' The boy was silent, clearly wrestling with his feelings. Suddenly he said 'What would it be, sir?' 'That is yet to be decided by these gentlemen and myself. We cannot proceed without your consent.' Another long silence followed. 'You really mean it when you say you'll destroy all these records if I go through with it?' 'That is a requirement of the Act of Parliament.' 'Right ....' he seemed a bit more resolved. 'I'll have to go through with it.'
Immediately the Super continued: 'We are required to proceed swiftly now. . You should be out of here within an hour. You must sign the consent form that the Sergeant will bring you, and while you're doing that we'll decide on the details of your punishment. Sergeant, will you make sure he changes down to the single layer of clothing allowed by the Act. He can choose what that is.'
We returned to the office. 'Twenty four strokes, then, gentlemen?' The Super looked at both of us. 'Yes,' said Thornton, 'a lad like him from his sort of family deserves a real good hiding if he thinks he can shoplift and get away with it. It's just the sort of case the Act was intended for.' I said: 'I agree. He deserves everything that's coming to him.' I paused for a moment, and then said 'May I suggest a slight development to the plan of action? I think he ought to get, say, twelve with the cane ....I shall be using our largest, the number 1, and it will really hurt him. I'd like to give the other twelve with my belt: it should hurt him just as much, but the psychological effect will be different. I hope it will bring home to him that he's being punished as a boy, and not as a hardened criminal.' John Thornton looked dubious. 'The boy needs to be punished. I'll only agree to your suggestion if you really lay it on. I don't want him to be in any doubt that he's being thrashed. We don't want to get the reputation of being soft.' I remembered that he was a candidate in the local elections; it would do him no harm at all if his hard line attitude got around outside. 'You can rely on me for that, Mr Thornton' I said. 'I've as little sympathy for the boy as you. You'll be there to see me doing it, anyway. You agree, sir?' I asked the Super. He nodded his head and said 'Can we get on with it? I've got a meeting at two, and I haven't had lunch yet.'
The sergeant was waiting outside with the signed form of consent. 'He's done the medical form too,' he said. 'He scored five plus, which is the maximum, so there's no worries on that score.' We left the room and went down two flights of stairs to the cells. At the far end of the row there is a sound-proofed cell we keep for noisy drunks: we had turned it into the punishment room because in addition to it being soundproofed it was quite a lot larger than the average cell, providing ample room for me to swing the cane. In the centre stood a stout wooden woodworking table, just under three feet tall, and about three feet long by eighteen inches wide. Several metal loops had been attached to the legs to act as securing points. Two large webbing belts were ready to encircle the boy's trunk and hips. I was still wearing my leathers As it was going to be hot work I took off my jacket so that I had only a singlet on over my torso. My belt was now visible, and I thought I would let him see it on me when he came in. I walked over to the tall container in which the canes were steeped in brine, and pulled out a new number 1. I wiped it down with a cloth and gave it a few preliminary swishes. I could see Thornton's eyes riveted on it. The sergeant came in, closed the door and said: 'We've got him outside. Are you ready, sir' he asked the Super. Before he answered the Super leaned over and started the videorecorder. The camera was high on the wall with a wide-angle lens to take in everything. 'Right. Bring him in.'
The sergeant left the door open and then returned with the boy. He was still dressed as before, but now had handcuffs on his wrists; he was looking quite pale, with beads of sweat on his forehead.. The Super said to him (and for the camera): 'This is Superintendent Barnes recording the corporal punishment of Stephen Barratt on 14 October 1997 at 1245 hours. Also present are John Thornton, Officer Peter Neale, and Sergeant Rod Jones. Stephen Barratt, you were caught stealing and you have admitted your guilt. You have opted for summary corporal punishment under the provisions of the Corporal Punishment of Young Offenders Act 1997. You are medically fit to receive it, and as you are eighteen you are able to consent to it in your own right and have done so. The offence is a serious one and you are fortunate that you are being treated as a child. You will receive a total of twenty four strokes across your backside, twelve with a cane, and twelve with a leather belt.'
While the Super was speaking I was walking around the boy, studying his physique. You need to do this if you're going to match the punishment to the boy. He was well-built, and obviously healthy, although quite slim. His backside was quite small, and the fit of his jeans accentuated its classical contours. I saw his mouth open, and his pupils dilate as he took in his sentence; I wondered for a moment if he was going to cry, but he didn't. I decided he didn't need any special treatment. The Super continued: 'Under the terms of the Act I am required to remind you that if you are insubordinate during your punishment you may be given up to six extra strokes. Do you have anything to say?' 'No, sir' the boy mumbled. 'Have you checked he has nothing else on under those jeans, sergeant?' 'Yes, sir.' There was a short pause.
'Carry on, Officer' he said to me.
I stood by the bench and fixed the boy with my eye. I could see he was trembling. His eyes darted between the cane I was holding and the heavy belt on my waist. I let him wait a full fifteen seconds and then said coldly: 'Over here, boy. Walk up to the bench and bend over it with your head at this end. Get right over it, I want a good target.' He lay lengthways along the bench, and bent over the edge, so that his feet were about six inches off the floor, and his arms in front of his head. 'Secure him, please, sergeant.' The sergeant brought a length of chain out from under the bench and passed it round the link in the handcuffs, and then took it back and fastened it tightly to the bench. Then he fastened one webbing belt round the boy's chest, and another round the lower part of his abdomen. Finally he adjusted and clamped two shoulder supports against each of his collar bones, on either side of his neck, to prevent him being able to pull himself along the bench. In tests we'd found that however much he flailed his legs, he now wouldn't be able to shift from this position. I prefer to have boys kicking their legs when they're being thrashed; it's much more satisfying to watch rather than looking at an immobile piece of trussed meat. I could feel the excitement starting between my legs. I knew now to savour the next minute or two, which is always truly unrepeatable. The boy's anticipation and fear of the unknown are palpable elements in the theatre of true punishment. I watched Stephen turning his head, trying to see what I was doing. It was a pleasing sight, with the denim stretched tight across his small ass.
While he was waiting, with the end of the cane I pushed up the tail of his T-shirt a few inches so that his backside was fully uncovered. Then I moved round to a position on his left in line with his buttocks and measured up the distance. When I tapped his ass lightly with the cane, he jumped. Immediately I raised it above my shoulder and brought it down across the seat of his jeans with all the force I could generate. There is no place in this kind of situation for the fancy wrist action that you read about in books. Brute force is what counts if it's going to hurt.
The reaction from the boy was most gratifying. At first the muscles in his ass just went through the normal reflex contraction and relaxation that you see in a thrashing, and for about three seconds he seemed to just lie there, as if nothing had happened, but then he looked as if he'd received an electric shock. He shouted '_s_h_i_t_! Ow!' and tried to rise in his restraints, as the searing pain across his backside kicked in. His legs shot up parallel to his trunk, and he squirmed, moaning. I knew this was going to be one of my better days. While he was in this position I hit him again, just up from the first one. This time, almost instantly, he shouted: 'Ow! You bloody sadists!' By now my own excitement was very obvious to me, but I think not to anybody else.
The Superintendent, who until now had seemed to be deep in reading a file of correspondence he had brought with him. looked up, and took off his spectacles. 'If you continue to use that type of language you will receive an extra three strokes. Do you understand?' Stephen said nothing. 'I repeat, do you understand? This punishment is being recorded. Do you understand?' The boy slowly relaxed his legs. He was breathing heavily. I could see him voluntarily moving the muscles in his buttocks to try to relieve the pain. If he had been thinking that wearing Levis would protect him from my caning, he now knew differently. I waited. 'Yes' he said. Immediately I hit him again with the cane, hard. He made a kind of strangled squeak. 'Yes ....what?'
I said to him. After about ten seconds he loudly 'Yes, SIR.'
I then started the normal systematic caning of his ass, starting at the top, and working down to the top of his thighs, each stroke about half an inch below the previous one. I spaced them at about ten second intervals, and paid no further attention to his reactions. He yelled at each stroke and wriggled a lot, but said nothing more. At about the sixth stroke he began moaning continuously and writhing under his restraints. I was becoming progressively more stimulated. After I had given him the twelfth stroke I said to him 'Just relax, and think about what's coming next.'
The Superintendent had returned to reading his files; he really wasn't interested in anything other than the efficient administration of the provisions of the new Act. Thornton, however, was a different matter: I could see him wiping his brow with his handkerchief, while at the same time trying to change his position to get a better view of the boy's buttocks and the action. It was certainly not leaving him unmoved.
I walked up and down the cell a few times, and then went up near to the boy's head, where he could see me. I started to unbuckle my belt. [You may have realised by now that I have had some limited experience in I was doing. This occasion was by no means the first on which my belt had been used for this purpose. It was made of thick dark brown leather, two inches wide and forty two inches long. The brass buckle had two tongues. From a boy's point of view, on the receiving end, it was an evil instrument.]
Quite deliberately I pulled the belt out through the loops of my leather trousers. He watched me like a mesmerised rabbit. I folded it in half where he could see it, and then leant down to him and said, loud enough for everybody else (and the camera) to hear: 'Where I come from, this is what all naughty boys get across their backsides, every time they're bad. If we ever get you back here again, you'll be getting it again without any trousers on.' Then I gave it a couple of trial swipes through the air, so he could hear the deep swooshing sound it made at speed.
When I'd pulled the belt out of my trouser loops I'd realised I was very close to a climax, and needed to control myself a bit longer.