Monitoring Prosecutions
Please notify backlash of any arrests that come to your attention.
In January 2010 two new cases came to light.
In one, the defendent pleaded guilty to extreme porn charges, so it was not possible to test the boundaries of what constitutes extreme. More serious child porn counts were put aside for the time being.
In another, a case will be heard in Swansea Crown Court in March that includes charges of serious injury and bestiality images, but not of indecent images of children.
During 2009 a handful of prosecutions were undertaken, to our knowledge all save two being instances where the police chose to tack onto more serious charges a charge under the extreme image provisions.
In the first of the stand alone charges, a "vulnerable" 20 year old was accused in February,
pleaded guilty in June and was given a supervision order.
In the second case a man had a clip sent to his mobile phone "as a joke", was charged in June and intended to plead not guilty, but when the case came before the Crown Court in December the prosecution had decided to
offer no evidence against him because the film had been produced for the purposes of a joke rather than for sexual gratification.
Monitoring relies on local media because official arrest data is "abysmal", as the
Bichard inquiry pointed out.
As experience builds up backlash is well placed to ensure anybody unwittingly caught up in this legislation will be able to receive competent specialist legal advice.
If you would like to contribute in any way to monitoring this legislation, please
contact backlash.
If you are a journalist or a researcher and would like to cover all sides of the
debate, see previous coverage in the media and
contact us.
To make a donation, click here.
Stay out of the bedroom
" The criminal law is drafted with great care, but sometimes its specific wording can trap victims and sentencers alike into facing unintended and unacceptable consequences. "
Jack Straw, opening for the Government in the House of Commons debate on this legislation in October 2007.
QC's conclusion "real concerns"
"In conclusion, I consider that the legislation as proposed gives rise to real concerns as to its compatibility with an individual's rights under Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention."
QC Rabinder Singh's Legal Opinion