Legal Matters

Police V Dunn. Invercargill; Feb 2025.

Mr Dunn a naturist was doing a jog naked on the Daffodil Bay hiking trail about 10am in Invercargill. A lone female was also on the trail when Mr Dunn was observed running towards her naked.

She also happened to be an off duty police officer.

She turned away as he ran past which left her very alarmed and shocked.

A pending criminal case was appealed and found in Mr Dunns favor and case was dismissed.

There were 2 hikes he did naked on different days. The court case only involved one of the days.

Legal precedent was used and the Pointon case; Ceramulus case; Lowe case; Bonner case and the Bill of Rights were used to support the judges decision. Lots of precedent. Also "freedom of expression' was given weight based on being a naturist as a valid form of public expression.

In other words nudists do have some rights in expressing themselves in public naked. Mr Dunn has some right to enjoy nudity in public as well as the complainant has the right to return to use the trail clothed or unclothed [ my words ]. I havent seen the phrase freedom of expression used as a defence until now.

How come a police officer could claim fright and shock seeing a naked man.