U.k. Guardsmen In Court (Press, 8 May 1968)
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Summary: U.k. Guardsmen In Court (Press, 8 May 1968)
On 7 May 1968, a wealthy interior decorator named Oliver Ford was fined £700 after being found guilty of committing indecent homosexual acts with soldiers from the Life Guards, an elite regiment that guards Buckingham Palace. The case highlighted the extent of the issue, as a police witness revealed that investigations involved one-third of the regiment's troopers. Alongside Ford, two soldiers were charged; however, they received conditional discharges for a period of two years. The events primarily transpired at a public house called Tattersail's, located in the affluent Knightsbridge area of London, near the soldiers' barracks. From this venue, the soldiers were allegedly taken to Ford's country house, where financial transactions for the acts ranged from £5 to £20. The prosecuting counsel noted that the soldiers involved were not primarily homosexual but engaged in these acts for monetary compensation, emphasising that all participants were aware of the nature of their actions. Ford, aged 42 and a company director in addition to his role as an interior decorator, admitted to charges of gross indecency and conspiracy concerning one of the soldiers, Barry Robert Brooks, a 20-year-old trooper who also pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to procure guardsmen. Another soldier, Jeffrey Victor Sheffield, a 27-year-old corporal in the Horse Guards, admitted guilt on two counts of procuring. The case against a third soldier who was also accused of procuring was scheduled for a later trial. Despite the passage of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967, which legalised homosexual acts between consenting adults, such actions remained illegal within the British Army, establishing a complex legal and moral landscape for those involved.
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