Photograph by Elliott Brown
Simon Walsh, the defendant in the controversial #porntrial, has been found not guilty of possession ‘extreme pornography’ by a unanimous jury of his peers.
As we previously covered, a court case earlier in the year, dubbed #ObscenityTrial, found that images of fisting would not “deprave and corrupt” and therefore are not illegal. Undeterred, the police and Crime Prosecution Service (CPS) continued with the prosecution of Simon Walsh for “extreme pornography” under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, with the extremity defined by whether fisting between two consenting adults was “likely to result in serious injury to a person’s anus”.
The CPS faced wide public criticism both online and off, with claims that they should not be stepping into policing the bedroom and that they were infringing upon freedom of expression, and the verdict was met with much relief with many commenting on whether Simon Walsh was victimised by police for investigating corruption within the service.
SIMON WALSH IS NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS. #PornTrial
— Myles Jackman (@ObscenityLawyer) August 8, 2012
Faith in British justice restored as my close friend and colleague Simon Walsh is unanimously acquitted in #PornTrial Am just delighted!
— Edward Lord OBE (@edwardlord) August 8, 2012
https://twitter.com/DavidAllenGreen/status/233190997486624768
This case stunk to high heaven. If it was about the defendant being involved in prosecuting police, this is very big potatoes. #porntrial
— ben goldacre (@bengoldacre) August 8, 2012
Considering that #porntrial pix must by definition have depicted both arses AND elbows, it's a wonder the CPS understood them at all.
— Rob Stradling (@Sourdust) August 8, 2012
