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10/08/2012
Boris Johnson's Former Aide Cleared Of 'Extreme Pornography' Charges
A barrister, and former aide to Boris Johnson, has been acquitted of possessing extreme pornography in a landmark case over the boundaries of what can be described as "extreme".
The jury was unanimous and took less than 90 minutes to clear Simon Walsh, 50, who also served as a magistrate and alderman in the City of London, after a week-long trial.
The case is believed to be the first to address whether images of anal fisting, a sexual practice which is legal, and urethral sounding are extreme pornography, as defined under the controversial section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Earlier this year Michael Peacock, a male escort arrested for the sale of pornographic DVDs, was acquitted of charges under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 of distributing obscene DVDs, which featured fisting and bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM).
Walsh was charged with possession of six email attachment images, which were not found by police on either his work or home computers, but on a Hotmail server account he set up to receive and send sexual messages.
Walsh faced five charges under the 2008 act, which stipulates images are extreme if they are "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character" and if they "portray, in an explicit and realistic way" any act "which results in, or is likely to result, in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals".
The prosecution claimed the images, showed acts that were likely to cause injury to a person's genitals and anus.
The defence argued there was no evidence of any serious injury in any of those images, and that the activities were low risk.
Walsh had taken three of the images himself at a New Year's Eve party and sent them only to other participants at the party, the court heard.
Walsh, whose Hotmail user name was "Cityfister" with the password "scat", and who was a registered user of a social networking website called NastyKinkyPigs.com, admitted to police he had an interest in BDSM. He had practised fisting but disputed the claim that the images were extreme pornography.
Giving evidence, he denied ever hurting anyone and said: "I know the limits and I respect them."
The jury was unanimous and took less than 90 minutes to clear Simon Walsh, 50, who also served as a magistrate and alderman in the City of London, after a week-long trial.
The case is believed to be the first to address whether images of anal fisting, a sexual practice which is legal, and urethral sounding are extreme pornography, as defined under the controversial section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Earlier this year Michael Peacock, a male escort arrested for the sale of pornographic DVDs, was acquitted of charges under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 of distributing obscene DVDs, which featured fisting and bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM).
Walsh was charged with possession of six email attachment images, which were not found by police on either his work or home computers, but on a Hotmail server account he set up to receive and send sexual messages.
Walsh faced five charges under the 2008 act, which stipulates images are extreme if they are "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character" and if they "portray, in an explicit and realistic way" any act "which results in, or is likely to result, in serious injury to a person's anus, breasts or genitals".
The prosecution claimed the images, showed acts that were likely to cause injury to a person's genitals and anus.
The defence argued there was no evidence of any serious injury in any of those images, and that the activities were low risk.
Walsh had taken three of the images himself at a New Year's Eve party and sent them only to other participants at the party, the court heard.
Walsh, whose Hotmail user name was "Cityfister" with the password "scat", and who was a registered user of a social networking website called NastyKinkyPigs.com, admitted to police he had an interest in BDSM. He had practised fisting but disputed the claim that the images were extreme pornography.
Giving evidence, he denied ever hurting anyone and said: "I know the limits and I respect them."
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18 Month Sentence For Child Pornography
A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for offences relating to indecent images of children. Adrian White admitted 23 counts of making or possessing indecent images and four counts of distributing them. Exeter Crown Court heard how the 52-year-old used the alias "Mr Grippy" when he exchanged extreme images to fellow paedophiles.
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School IT Manager Jailed Over Indecent Images
A IT Manager at a school in Wales has been jailed following the discovery of 400,000 indecent images of children. Swansea's Crown Court today heard how Jeffrey Gravell, 54, had stolen computers from Coedcae Comprehensive in Llanelli, and used them to download the pictures and videos at his home.
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Subliminal advertising 'affects brain'
Invisible subliminal images do attract the brain's attention on a subconscious level, researchers at University College London have claimed. Using brain scans, researchers looked at whether an image you aren't aware of - but one that reaches the retina - has an impact on brain activity in the primary visual cortex, part of the occipital lobe.
14 July 2004
45 arrested in internet child porn probe
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08 October 2013
Paeodophile Who Walked Free From Court Jailed For Two Years
A paedophile who walked free from court after his teenage victim was branded "predatory" has been ordered by judges at the Court of Appeal to serve a two-year jail sentence. Neil Wilson, 40, was handed a suspended sentence in august.
Paeodophile Who Walked Free From Court Jailed For Two Years
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