Police right to charge South Australian couple Jessica Angel and Colin MacKenzie over noisy sex,
poll says
Colin MacKenzie and Jessica Angel may be the first in South Australia to be charged with offences under the Environmental Protection Act as a direct result of their noisy sex.
NEARLY 10,000 people have voted, and two-thirds say police were right to intervene after Colin MacKenzie and Jessica Angel's overly passionate love-making drove a whole neighbourhood wild.
An adelaidenow poll taken yesterday found that about two-thirds of 9686 people believed the police did the right thing in clamping down.
By 4pm today, 67.61 per cent, or 6549 votes, said police had the right to intervene if a couple is too noisy during sex, while 32.39 per cent, or 3137 votes, batted for the other side.
You can still have your say in the poll to the right.
Meanwhile, the story make a splash across the country - and the world, with websites from India, the UK and the US reporting the tale of the very much in-love couple.
After repeated complaints about their passionate but noisy love-making, police were forced to step in to give their neighbours some peace and quiet.
The SA couple may be the first to be charged with offences under the Environmental Protection Act - as a direct result of their noisy sex.
The couple from Adelaide's Black Forest suburb are believed to be the first in South Australia to be charged with offences under the Environmental Protection Act - as a direct result of their noisy sex and could face up to a $4000 fine.
Police patrols have been to the couple's unit 20 times since April. The latest callouts - last Sunday night and twice early Tuesday morning - resulted in the couple being charged with disturbing the public peace and hindering an environmental protection officer.
"We exceeded the noise pollution to the point we were arrested and taken out of our own house and told we couldn't have sex," a stunned Ms Angel said.
Mr MacKenzie said: "It is completely over the top. I have been fined for having sex in my own house."
On Sunday night, Ms Angel, 34, allegedly the loudest, was issued with an emergency Environment Protection Order by police.
The 72-hour order required her to cease "emanating any and all environmental nuisance" including "screaming, loud moaning, swearing and raised voices".
Despite the order - issued at 7.30 Sunday night - police were called back early Tuesday morning. Ms Angel and Mr MacKenzie were fined $315 for breaching Sunday's police order and again warned to be quiet.
At 3.30am, police were called again, after a further complaint about their noisy sex.
This time the couple was arrested after being woken by officers and taken to Sturt police station, formally charged and given police bail to appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court next month.
Ms Angel said police told them Sunday night's callout was in response to a report of a domestic dispute and "screaming", but that was wrong.
"We were just having sex. No way were we fighting. We were being intimate Sunday and into Sunday night," she said.
She said she was shocked to receive the order, but when fined for breaching that order, then formally charged early Tuesday this turned to disbelief.
An unrepentant Mr MacKenzie, 45, conceded they were noisy during sex, but said their neighbours could easily have knocked on the door themselves instead of calling police.
"It is mostly Jessie," he said. "Our average sex goes anywhere from four, six, seven hours, basically five nights a week.
"That's pretty much why I am asleep at six o'clock in the afternoon. I will probably die of a heart attack, she is almost killing me as it is."
Mr MacKenzie said he felt many complaints were malicious, and on some occasions they were not even at home. "We can't even have sex. It's ridiculous and has gone beyond a joke," he said.
"And to be charged for being too loud, what did they bring a decimetre or something with them in the middle of it? This is all going on someone's hearsay. It is bizarre. What are people doing, just sitting in their flat listening to me and then they say, 'I don't like the sound of that so I will ring up and complain.'?
"How can you live in a place where you can't have sex? It's ridiculous."
Sturt Police Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Lovegrove said the incident was "certainly one of the more interesting matters police have had to deal with".
"Generally complaints to police about noisy neighbours related to parties or music being played too loudly," he said.
"We don't want to be seen as the killjoy police because we're certainly not. People have a right to privacy within their own home, but when their actions impact others police need to step in before a situation escalates.
"In the past, police have been called to the property and warnings issued. On this occasion police had been called earlier in the night, so when called back they took steps to ensure neighbours got a good night's sleep."
One neighbour said he was woken by the couple early Tuesday when he "heard screams".
"It was quite loud and they sounded very obscene," he said.
"I didn't call the police but they were here after I heard it. They were quiet after that for a while and then the police were back later, but I didn't hear anything after the first time."
