Commonwealth of England v Boy George

Did Boy George (George O’Dowd) have a motive to kidnap and falsely imprison a male escort?

Facts: George O’Dowd, aka Boy George, pop icon and lead singer of 80s hit band “Culture Club”, met a male escort online, on a popular gay social networking site known by the UK as “Gaydar”. The first time Mr O’Dowd met his new friend, a 29 year old male model and escort named Audun Carlsen, he reportedly gave Carlsen oral sex, and also accused him of tampering with his computer. Carlsen claimed that Boy George appeared to be wired on cocaine, during this first meeting.

For the next few weeks, Carlsen was getting harassing and accusatory emails, in regards to naked pictures of  Boy George that Carlsen was suspected of stealing. Later, Boy George apologized for sending those Emails, and lured the model back to his apartment once again, on the premise of making up. According to police, though, he said that he only wanted to bring the model back to check his laptop and cell phone to be sure that he hadn’t taken anything from him. When the model got to Boy George’s apartment, there was presumably a period of getting along, after which, Boy George went to the store for something, reportedly milk and cigarettes. When he came back, Boy George had another friend, who was either hiding or not, this is unclear, to help
him chain Carlsen to the bed, so that he could go through his personal effects.

He said “Now you’ll get what you deserve.” And he took a metal chain and beat the man, and even left the room for a moment, to get a box of sadistic sex toys, like leather straps and the like. This threatening, and beating him with a chain kept on until Carlsen broke free from the fixture that the chain was attached to, and escaped, reporting the story to someone outside of the apartment. Boy George’s claim was that the other man was only there for his own protection. The third man’s identity is not known, as of yet. When faced with the issue of the red marks all over Carlsen’s body, Mr. Boy George claimed that Carlsen had HIV, which could have caused those markings. On January 16, 2009, Boy George was found guilty of false imprisonment, and kidnapping, and sentenced to 14 months in jail.

Law: In the UK, Kidnapping is against the law, from a common law standpoint. There are certain Acts of Parliament that can be applied in this case, however. Text is linked.

Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (c. 43)

Boy George, was arrested in April of 2007 in London, England, and charged with Kidnapping and False Imprisonment. He plead not guilty to both charges. On January 16, 2009, he was found guilty on both charges and sentenced to 14 months in jail. The judge who decided the case said "Whilst I accept that Mr Carlsen's physical injuries were not serious or permanent, in my view there can be no doubt that your premeditated, callous and humiliating hand-cuffing and detention of Mr. Carlsen shocked, degraded and traumatized." Carlsen, he added, had been "deprived of his liberty and his human dignity". The judge also felt that Boy George showed no remorse for his actions.

Boy George also has had an extensive drug abuse history including cocaine and heroin, with arrests dating back to his mid twenties.

Analysis: Boy George has a serious addiction problem, and seems to lack concern for the people around him, as well as his own well being. He is showing himself as being a severe sex addict, not to mention the drug problems, as well. Boy George has always been an oddball, but this case really takes the cake for him. He may never be allowed to come back to the United States again, to do any performances, also, which will surely cause him to lose a great deal of his regular income. If he doesn’t get himself under control, he is sure to end up seriously injuring or killing someone, possibly even himself. His bad decisions and risky lifestyle have definitely caught up with him. I hope that his time in jail will help him to get clean and sober, and make him realize how much his life has gone downhill.

Advice: Say no to drugs. You hear those four words all the time, I am sure- but saying no is so much easier than saying yes. Even if the people you say no to, end up abandoning you somewhere, or they say nasty things about you- who cares? Take the higher ground, and say no. Give a fact about drugs, to reinforce your boundaries. Say no repeatedly. Tell the person that you don’t care to try something new, if it has to do with drugs. Keep saying no, and walk away.  Drugs are a surefire way of ruining one’s life, and nobody wants to have their life ruined, I would think.

Also, on the other side of the token, it is never a good idea to become an escort. It is a very risky way to live your life, and you could end up in situations that you might only get out of by sheer luck, like Carlsen did. Just be aware of how your behaviors might affect you later in life, and do as much research as possible before making a decision to do something risky.

There are too many people in this world who seem to be very willing to partake in self destructive behavior. Don’t join their club. Find something positive to do with your life- read a book, go out with some friends, continue your education, learn to cook, or just go for a walk, go work out.  There are many healthy ways to be happy, and using drugs or taking part in risky sexual behaviors is definitely not going to get you ahead in this world. Maybe you'd like to someday be the Supreme Court Justice, President, or a Gold Medalist in the Olympics. Have faith in yourself, and your dreams will have a greater chance of coming true.