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THE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OFFICER

by Jacqueline Scott


Mary Lansley, the wife of highly respected Justice of the Peace, Adam Lansley, was lying in bed with her lover's arm sprawled over her naked body. They had been like that since their lovemaking had ended about an hour previously. Slowly she surfaced, wondered where she was for a few seconds and then glanced at the clock beside the bed. She didn't quite believe what she saw and levered herself up to look more closely.

"Shit Johnnie, I should have been on my way home ages ago!"

She manoeuvred herself from under him, got out of bed and began to dress as quickly as she could. He watched her, admiring yet again her shapely taut body which belied her age - much closer to 50 than 40 now.

Within a few minutes she was in her car and driving fast through the dark countryside. She knew that she was probably over the limit - after all they had drunk at least one bottle of champagne before going to bed - but she really needed to try get home before her husband arrived back from one of these interminable meetings. She glanced down at the car clock and put her foot down harder on the accelerator. Suddenly she was going through a village and a young woman was crossing the road in front of her. Mary jammed on the brake and swerved. She managed to avoid the woman but in doing so clipped the corner of a car parked at the side of the road. There was a screech of metal on metal. Fortunately she was able to regain control of the car and it came to a halt about 30 yards further along the street. She looked in the mirror and saw the woman staring at the car. She didn't look hurt in any way, however, so Mary put her foot down again and shot off.

When she drove into the large courtyard of the house she was relieved to see that Adam's car was not there, so parked her car with the corner of the car that had been damaged away from where he might see it when he got home. Mary wasn't completely stupid, however, and knew that there were likely to be recriminations eventually, but for the moment she had got away with it.

It was only five minutes later that her husband came through the door. Unfortunately for Mary, it was only five more minutes before the doorbell rang, and within a minute or so her husband returned with two policemen - a sergeant and a constable. Her problems were about to begin.

The interrogation was brief and to the point and Mary was breathalysed after admitting that yes, she had had a minor accident on the way home and had not stopped.

The sergeant looked at the reading shown on the meter and turned to her husband. "I wonder if I might have a word in private, Mr Lansley." When they were alone in Adam's study the sergeant didn't waste time nor pull his punches. "Mr Lansley, I have to tell you that your wife is in trouble here. She is well over the limit. We have a witness to the fact that the car which she admits she was driving was seen in Winsthorp travelling well in excess of the speed limit and in a manner that almost caused it to hit a young lady. Fortunately that did not happen but the driver of the car did not stop to check the matter. It is only because I respect you and your position that I am not arresting her tonight. But I would advise you very strongly to make sure she attends the station tomorrow morning. And she should have a lawyer with her. She is going to need one as I'm sure you know this is not the first time that your wife has been in trouble for driving offences."

Adam Lansley nodded and accepted everything that the officer said. He was well aware that his wife drove recklessly on occasions. This appeared to be a situation that had been coming for some time. After the police had left he told Mary exactly what had been said.

"God knows what makes you do these things Mary, but I really don't know what will happen this time. I fear the worst I can tell you."

Mary was in tears by the time he had finished, but not tears of recrimination. She knew she was in the wrong and desperately wanted to turn the clock back. Adam telephoned a family friend, a lawyer, before they went to bed. Neither he nor Mary slept well that night.

Nine o'clock the next morning the couple met the lawyer, Jim Osborne, at the police station. Then in the presence of the lawyer, Mary was interviewed by the police sergeant and a colleague. It didn't take long. After a few minutes Jim asked the sergeant if the two of them could speak privately. It was nearly an hour before that meeting ended. The lawyer then arranged for a room to be available to discuss what had been said between the policeman and himself. Once Adam and Mary were seated he spoke quickly and firmly.

"I have to tell you both that the police believe that their case is rock solid and that if it goes to court Mary will almost certainly be sent to prison. There is one alternative that I must put to you and I think that you should think very carefully about it. It is a generous offer in my opinion."

His client was chalk white and looked as if she was about to faint. Adam, however, nodded and asked the lawyer to explain further.

"You will have heard about the recent legislation that permits corporal punishment to be used in certain circumstances. Sergeant Fox has agreed that this might be one such occasion. We have talked over a variety of options and it may be that I can negotiate a little more. But the essence is this. He will not press for a court hearing provided that the following happens.

First, Mary surrenders her driving licence for a minimum of twelve months and attends an alcohol clinic for six months. Secondly, she must accept a physical punishment of something like 30 strokes of the cane and 60 from a leather strap. These can be given over a limited period of time and there might be more negotiating that I can do in this area. But if you cannot accept this then it will be a court case and I must stress that I don't think a prison sentence would be avoided."

Now Mary was weeping freely. But her husband showed no emotion. "Pull yourself together Mary," he said. "Perhaps this is a last chance. I can assure you that jail is not pleasant no matter what some newspapers might say. I think we should accept."

His wife simply couldn't imagine going to prison and nodded her agreement, although the thought of being beaten seemed appalling. Adam turned back to the lawyer.

"Tell Sergeant Fox that she will accept these conditions, Jim. Do what you can to manage the punishment down a bit. But we will accept the principle."

Mr Osborne nodded and left the room. It was another half hour before he came back. Sitting down again he briefed them. "Well I have managed to get the punishment down to 25 of the cane and 45 of the strap." Looking at Mary he said, "They will be given over roughly a six week period and you will not get both implements during the same session. Also I have persuaded them that as you will not be driving, the punishments can be given to you at home. If you sign an agreement that the sergeant is preparing now, a corporal punishment officer will come to your house tomorrow morning to begin."

In due course Mary signed the sheet of paper that was put in front of her although in truth she didn't read it. The whole thing was an ongoing nightmare for her. She just hoped that it could be over before their daughter, Karen, came home from University. If possible she wanted to avoid having to explain to Karen what had happened. Once again she did not sleep well.


Alison Fraser was 24 years old. She came from an ordinary family - her father was a librarian and her mother a primary school teacher. Alison had been a bright youngster and had gone to University and gained a good degree in History. Unfortunately, like many others with 'Arts' degrees she had found it very difficult to find any job that suited her talents and it was only just over six months ago that she had seen the government's advert for corporal punishment officers and wondered if she might be able to do that. She had a strong sense of the difference between right and wrong, especially as she had had a strict upbringing and it sounded as if it might be better than waitressing or one of the other many zero hours contract jobs that were on offer. She applied and was accepted quite quickly. Her training had been fairly basic, concentrating on teaching her how to use such implements as a whip, a cane and a leather belt. Practice had been on padded dummies and it had been with some considerable trepidation that she approached her first real punishment.

Now six months later she felt very comfortable in her ability to administer corporal punishment safely and effectively. During that period she had dealt with a wide variety of clients, from silly schoolboys or girls getting into trouble at school, to hardened shoplifters. Her superiors were impressed with her and had no hesitation about giving her this next job - delivering a series of punishments to an older woman who had committed some driving offences. The job was different in that it was to take place at the woman's home. So that Tuesday morning Alison Fraser met Jane Shelley from the CPO office who was to act as a witness, and the two women made their way to this large impressive house on the outskirts of the town.

Adam and Mary Lansley were finding it difficult to talk to each other. She felt guilty about what had happened while he was sure that he hadn't heard everything ... but he didn't want to ask more for fear of what he might discover. Normally he would have left home for work before nine o'clock but on this morning he had wanted to (and thought it right that he should) wait until the corporal punishment officer had been. So it was he who answered the door at just before ten o'clock. He was surprised at the youthfulness of the two women standing on the doorstep although he was relieved that at least it was not a man. Neither of them had raised that possibility with the lawyer but Adam had wondered if it might be a male designated to administer the punishment. He led the two women into the living room where Mary was waiting white-faced and trying to stop herself trembling. Adam was surprised when one of the women immediately took charge.

"Mrs Lansley, my name is Alison Fraser and I am the officer who will be dealing with you over the next few weeks. This is Jane Shelley. Jane is here only as a witness to ensure that what happens is exactly in line with your punishment schedule. That is for your protection and mine. What has been agreed is that you will be punished every week until the total number of designated strokes is complete. We have a degree of flexibility over that but what I suggest is that I should administer eight strokes of the cane in any one session and fifteen from the strap. That would leave an odd single cane but we can add that to the last session. Am I correct in thinking that you have never experienced anything like this before?"



© Jacqueline Scott
Not to be reposted, reproduced or distributed, in part or whole.