Felicity Gerry QC today successfully appealed a conviction for importation and making indecent images of children on the basis that the jury had not been properly directed on the mental element for the offences. The defendant’s case was that he downloaded spanking images of adults. The prosecution did not seek a retrial on the quashed convictions.
The defendant remains convicted of possession offences but his sentence was reduced to a conditional discharge from the date of conviction which has now expired. The case threw up an interesting point on whether a pseudo photograph could cover an image of an adult dressed as a child. Felicity specialises in this & other types of cybercrime.
