Ten Illegal Things To Do In London

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A quick and dirty video about breaking the law from Matt (@unnamedculprit) and me.

You may also enjoy us breaking the news!

Our references

We're indebted to blogger Scrapper Duncan for this wonderful piece about legal myths: while we checked the original texts ourselves, that post was the inspiration for the video.

Carrying a plank along a pavement, sliding on ice or snow, firing a cannon within 300 yards of a dwelling, and beating or shaking any carpet or rug in the street (except for a doormat before 8am) are all illegal under the Metropolitan Police Act 1839.

Singing profane or obscene songs in the street and playing knock-down-ginger (or ding-dong-ditch as it's known in the US) are illegal under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.

Being drunk in a pub (or any other licensed premises) is illegal under the Licensing Act 1872. Yes, seriously.

Defacing money is illegal under the Currency and Banknotes Act 1928. This technically includes all those bank tellers who scrawl totals on the backs of piles of notes.

And finally, handling salmon in suspicious circumstances — a bit of a stretch, since 'suspicious circumstances' generally involves poaching — is illegal under the Salmon Act 1986.

As of filming and publishing, all the relevant sections of these laws remain in force.