Christopher works in a bank. In fact, he has a senior job in the bank and is very well paid. He lives in a posh part of London called Kensington. The people who live in his street have a shared garden. If you have visited London, you may have seen shared gardens in some parts of the city. Often they are in the middle of a square of houses, and have iron railings round them. You can get into the garden only if you have a key.

　　Well, Christopher is well paid, important and busy. But he still finds time to play with his little boy, who is 5 years old. One day Christopher and his son took a ball into the garden. They kicked it backwards and forwards. How nice. Father and son enjoying an innocent game of football in the garden.

　　Football? Did someone say football? A neighbour saw what was going on. She complained that it was forbidden to play football in the shared garden. It was a breach of an Act of Parliament of 1863. She brought a court action against Christopher. She lost because the magistrates said that a father and a small boy kicking a ball was not, legally, a game of football.

　　But the neighbour was not satisfied. She appealed to a higher court. So the High Court, with two senior judges and lots of expensive lawyers, listened to the arguments again. They decided that, yes, Christopher and his son had been playing football, but, no, they did not think that it was right to take any action against them.

　　The neighbour is still very cross. She told the newspapers that “citizens of this country will be appalled by the court’s judgement.” Well, I’m not appalled. Are you?

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