For much of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century, the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom operated under “the Bloody Code” in which more than 200 crimes were punishable by death. Despite the apparent severity of this punitive system, the laws around extortion during this period were ambiguous and unclear. Drawing on records from London’s Old Bailey over the century from 1723 to 1823, this research examines the specific offence of threatening to accuse a person of criminalised homosexual acts for the purposes of extortion. Drawing on a range of cases in London over a century, this research examines the varying judicial treatment of crimes committed in person versus extortion conducted in written form — a major distinction under the conditions of the Bloody Code. It highlights the inconsistency in the application of the law, as well as presenting potential explanations as to why similar crimes were punished so differently in Georgian Britain. Based on case file analysis, it comes to an intriguing conclusion about how these cases were handled by the Old Bailey, coming to the conclusion that sentences for homosexual extortion attempts were often mitigated in cases where there was a question as to whether the victim was, in reality, a gay man. This conclusion has serious implications for our understanding of the nexus between homosexuality and the English legal system in this complex period.

在18世纪和19世纪初的大部分时间里，联合王国的刑事司法系统是根据“血腥法典”运作的，其中200多种犯罪应受到死刑处罚。尽管这种惩罚性制度显然很严厉，但在此期间，有关勒索的法律尚不明确和模糊。这项研究借鉴了1723年至1823年间伦敦老贝利（Old Bailey）过去一个世纪的记录，研究了以勒索为目的，威胁指控某人犯有同性恋行为的具体罪行。这项研究利用一个世纪以来伦敦的一系列案件，研究了对以书面形式进行的亲身犯罪和敲诈勒索的不同司法处理方式，这是《血腥法典》规定的主要区别。它突显了法律适用方面的不一致之处，并就为何在格鲁吉亚英国对类似罪行的处罚如此不同提出了可能的解释。根据案件档案分析，得出关于老贝利如何处理这些案件的有趣结论，得出的结论是，在对受害人是否为受害者提出质疑的情况下，经常会减轻针对同性恋勒索企图的判决。实际上，是一个同性恋者。这一结论对我们理解这一复杂时期的同性恋与英国法律制度之间的联系具有重要意义。得出的结论是，在对受害人实际上是否是男同性恋者存有疑问的情况下，通常会减轻对同性恋勒索企图的判决。这一结论对我们理解这一复杂时期的同性恋与英国法律制度之间的联系具有重要意义。得出的结论是，在对受害人实际上是否是男同性恋者存有疑问的情况下，通常会减轻对同性恋勒索企图的判决。这一结论对我们理解这一复杂时期的同性恋与英国法律制度之间的联系具有重要意义。