Regina v Smethurst: CACD 13 Apr 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 a question of indecent assault. The jury’s conclusion that the images were indecent and of children under 16 was all that was required. Indecency was a subjective assessment. Once the photographs came into existence the harm might already be done. Article 10.2 covered this case, the offence was sufficiently certain, and the Act was compliant.

Citations:

Times 13-Apr-2001, [2002] 1 Cr App R 50

Statutes:

Protection of Children Act 1978 1(1)(a), European Convention on Human Rights 10.2

Cited by:

CitedRegina v Collier CACD 11-Jun-2004
The defendant appealed a conviction of possession of indecent pseudo-photographs of children. He said that he had not seen the image, and that though he had reason to know the images were indecent, he had no reason to know that they were of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Human Rights

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88669