A man who has been cleared of rape still has to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex has threatened to go on hunger strike.
The single man, in his 40s, admitted to previously having an interest in sado-masochistic sex and used to visit a Fifty Shades Of Grey-style fetish club with an ex-partner. He has accused North Yorkshire Police of "sour grapes" after his acquittal for rape at a retrial, having spent 14 months in jail..
The man is currently subject to a Sexual Risk Order which the force successfully applied for at a magistrates court. The order, which police will ask to be made permanent at a hearing in August, includes a condition requiring him to inform police 24 hours before he has sex with a new partner.xxIn a statement, the man said: "I intend to commence hunger strike in protest over the SRO to which I am subject. "I protest that even though a jury found me unanimously not guilty, after nearly two years I still find myself being punished for a crime that never happened.
"I protest to being subject to an order that is unlawful in almost every syllable, is unjustified and is so extreme as to be utterly unlivable. "Home Office guidelines clearly explain the types of behaviour that SROs are designed to prevent, and none of it applies in any way to me. "The law has been misapplied deliberately by North Yorkshire Police out of sour grapes over being shown to be prejudicial and incompetent in their investigation of the original complaint against me." The man denied having any criminal convictions, "not even a parking ticket", when he spoke to reporters at York Magistrates' Court earlier in the month. At his previous hearing he said: "It puts an end to your life. "I had more freedom in prison. "The severity of the restrictions exceed what convicted criminals would get on a Sexual Offence Prevention Order." He said: "Can you imagine, 24 hours before sex? Come on." The man has been charged with breaching the terms of the order by refusing to give police the PIN to his phone. He decided, having taken legal advice, not to give them the code as a point of principle, because he said the terms of an SRO were supposed to be prohibitive, not obligatory. He was arrested and held in police custody overnight. The terms of his SRO mean he cannot use any internet-enabled device that cannot be later checked by police. He said that banned him from using certain fridges and lifts that are connected to the web. The wording of the order also stops him from using an intercom such as those used to get into a nursery or a flat. He said: "I'm in a state of shock, I cannot believe this is how the justice system works. "I thought the police were interested in finding out the truth, the only thing the police are interested in is securing convictions." "It's so unjust, there is not a conviction to my name - one allegation, acquitted and they can still shut you down. "They can create this virtual prison." The case will be back before York Magistrates for a full hearing on August 19.
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