WhatsApp indecent and extreme images acquittal
Sonn Macmillan Walker acted for a client of good character charged with possession of an extreme image and with making indecent images.
The images were found on our client’s iPhone and computer. The Prosecution confirmed that they had come from a group conversation with his friends on WhatsApp. Our client stated that he had not seen the relevant images. He maintained a large number of WhatsApp conversations with his friends, which sometimes continued through the night when he was asleep. Having been prosecuted he wondered whether the app may have been set to auto download images to his photo gallery. The image found on his computer was an auto back up of which he had no knowledge. We instructed an expert to comment on the application and our client’s circumstances. It became apparent that his phone was indeed set to automatically download images whenever he had an internet connection. Careful cross examination of the prosecution expert demonstrated this and the fact that there were several thousand other (entirely innocent) images. We were therefore able to demonstrate that our client had no knowledge of the extreme and indecent images. He was unanimously acquitted of all charges. Aysha Moore and Sarrah Kerslake conducted our client’s successful defence.
