The defendant appealed his conviction of possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children. The images had been deleted, and were irrecoverable, but they had originally been viewed through a program which created a smaller additional image for each original. Though the thumbnail images were no longer accessible without the original, they remained on the … Continue reading Porter, Regina v: CACD 16 Mar 2006
Judges: Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) (Lord Justice Holroyde) Mr Justice Spencer Mrs Justice Hill DBE Citations: [2022] EWCA Crim 1110 Links: Bailii Statutes: Protection of Children Act 1978 1(1), Criminal Justice Act 1988 160(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime Updated: 22 November 2022; Ref: scu.682821
The defendant downloaded indecent images of children onto his computer, and printed them out. He was convicted of making new images by virtue of creating copies on his disc by downloading, by displaying them on his screen, and by printing them out. Held: He had been properly convicted. Such creation of new copies was clearly … Continue reading Regina v Bowden: CACD 10 Nov 1999
No expert medical evidence is needed with regard to the age of a child said to be the subject of an indecent photograph. Whether it is a child is not outside normal experience. The defendant had seen the photographs, and no defence was available under 1(4)(b). Citations: Gazette 05-Nov-1997, Times 04-Nov-1997, [1999] QB 65, [1997] … Continue reading Regina v Land: CACD 10 Oct 1997
An individual who faced criminal charges sued the CPS for libel, misfeasance in public office, and breach of the Human Rights Act, in respect of a public announcement that those charges were to be brought. The court was asked now to decide whether the announcement of the charge included meanings suggesting (as was denied) that … Continue reading Bukovsky v Crown Prosecution Service: QBD 28 Jul 2016
The defendant had been convicted of repeatedly raping a 12 week old girl, and other sexual offences against young girls. After pleading guilty, the judge had passed a life sentence setting the minimum term at six years which was lower because of the guilty plea. His partner had been convicted as an accomplice but took … Continue reading French and Webster, Regina v (Attorney General’s Reference No 14 and No 15 of 2006): CACD 8 Jun 2006
The defendants were convicted of making indecent quasi-photographs of children under the Act. They had received e-mails, and opened the images in attachments to those e-mails. They appealed saying that the opening of the attachment was not sufficient to constitute the act of making an image. Held: Applying Bowden and Atkins, the deliberate opening of … Continue reading Regina v Smith, Regina v Jayson: CACD 7 Mar 2002
Judges: Lord Justice Hooper Mr Justice Openshaw Dame Heather Steel Citations: [2005] EWCA Crim 3093, [2006] 1 WLR 775 Links: Bailii Statutes: Protection of Children Act 1978 1(1)(c) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime Updated: 23 May 2022; Ref: scu.236592
The defendant appealed against his conviction for possession of indecent images with a view to them being distributed or shown to others. Held: The offence required an intention on the part of the defendant to distribute the images. They had been downloaded as part of a file-sharing system, which would leave the files in a … Continue reading Regina v Dooley: CACD 1 Nov 2005
The court set down the matters to be considered when sentencing for the downloading of pornographic images of children from the Internet or otherwise, and in particular where lay the custody threshold. The further distribution of images was a severely aggravating factor, as could be the degree of obscenity the age and number of children … Continue reading Regina v Wild; Regina v Jefferson: CACD 4 Jul 2001
As regards the offence of making indecent photographs of children, any intention of the defendant was irrelevant as to whether the photographs themselves were indecent. The defendant said he had obtained the images without any indecent intent, but only because they had a high photographic quality. The situation was different from that which obtained on … Continue reading Regina v Smethurst: CACD 13 Apr 2001
[2016] EWCA Crim 1053 Bailii Criminal Justice Act 1988 160(1), Protection of Children Act 1978 1(1)(a) England and Wales Crime Updated: 20 January 2022; Ref: scu.567778
For possession of an indecent image of a child to be proved, it was necessary to establish some knowledge of its existence. Images stored without the defendant’s knowledge by browser software in a hidden cache, of which he was also unaware, were not such, and a conviction was quashed. The situation was akin to a … Continue reading Atkins v Director of Public Prosecutions; Goodland v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 8 Mar 2000
