The “insulting” clause of the insulting law was applied over 18,000 times in 2009, a jolting statistic attached to a Draconian notion that words, mere words, said aloud, and not even necessarily shouted could, in some way, be criminal because they could strike someone, somewhere nearby, as “insulting.”\
Moreover, a victim, in some instances, does not actually need to be a human being for an offence to have occurred, as was the case of Simon Brown, an Oxford University student out celebrating post-exams who was arrested for saying to a mounted policeman, “Excuse me, do you realize your horse is gay?” (Police claimed a passerby could have found Mr. Brown’s equine-aimed wisecrack offensive.)
No dissing please, we’re British: The art of the insult under siege by the law
Mr. Bean's expression speaks volumes...
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