Daily Telegraph, London, 15 May 1953

£500 fine for obscene libels

"Man with a kink"

Eric Arthur Wildman, 31, of City Road, Finsbury, and Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, was fined £500 or in default 12 months' imprisonment at the Old Bailey yesterday on 17 charges of publishing obscene libels. He was given six months in which to pay. Sir Hugh Beazley, the Common Serjeant, at first considered a £1,000 fine but was informed Wildman could not pay.

Mr. R.E. Seaton, prosecuting, said Wildman had a business in City Road, entitled Corpun Educational Organisation, and also conducted a society for the retention of corporal punishment. His premises in City Road and in Walthamstow were raided in January and March and obscene publications, photographs and canes were found.

Mr. F.H. Lawton, defending, maintained that though there was a very ardent background there was no deliberate trading in pornography. Wildman was a man with a kink. Corporal punishment had got control of him. He thought he had a crusade for its retention.

Imposing the fine the Common Serjeant said: "I don't want to crush him out of existence. I want to give him a sharp lesson and, if possible, make him realise he is not the world's Messiah in this matter."

Previous: 14 February 1953: Charges under Obscene Publications Act

Follow-up: 27 October 1953: Obscene books to be destroyed