Appeal court may review "PC" stripper case
14 Dec 07
Crown challenges sheriff's ruling of reasonable excuse for carrying offensive weapons
An appeal has been lodged against the acquittal on offensive weapons charges of the male stripper who dresses as a policeman, the Crown Office confirmed yesterday.
Aberdeen man Stuart Kennedy (24), whose stage name is "Sergeant Eros", was cleared by Sheriff Kenneth Stewart at the city's sheriff court of carrying two batons and spray on the ground that he had a "reasonable excuse" for doing so.
Kennedy was arrested in an Aberdeen street after two female police officers spotted him in his police uniform costume - complete with the word "stripper" above the breast pocket - which includes a utility belt containing the batons. They watched him perform his act in order to verify his story.
At his trial, the sheriff upheld a submission of no case to answer at the end of the Crown case. He accepted that Kennedy had a reasonable excuse for carrying the batons and also that as the contents of the spray had not been analysed, it could not be established that it had been carried with intent to cause harm or injury.
Kennedy, who began stripping as a means of financing his degree course, said he was disappointed the Crown was not letting the matter drop.