A New York woman has been awarded £15,000 compensation for wrongful arrest for being topless.

Jill Coccaro was stopped and held for 12 hours for walking bare breasted through the city's streets.The 27-year-old, who was eventually released without charge, claimed a police officer yanked her out of a patrol car by her hair and police took her to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

She took advantage of a court ruling that decided women should have the same rights as men to take their tops off in public. Coccaro, who now goes by the name Phoenix Feeley, told the New York Post that she had previously gone bare-breasted after running the 2004 city marathon without police bothering her.

"I've always just felt that was something natural," Feeley said of going topless. "I've kind of always done it out of practicality."

Practicality!!! How practical is it trying to walk around town having to dodge the dozens of men lying on the floor due to walking into lamp posts, etc.

Maybe it's time to start the cleverthingies photo competition!  Entries to rob@cleverthingies.com, Winner gets some crap cleverthingies merchandise and a place in the cleverthingies gallery which we'll set up if we get any entries. Well, it's got to be worth a try...

Meanwhile you can whip one out below.


Cynthia decided that topless marathon running was not one of her better ideas.