Storbritannia har vedtatt en lov som forbyr skildring av seksuelle handlinger som kan medføre fare for skade, slik som fistfucking. Da en ledende advokat, som er rådgiver for Londons borgermester, ble funnet i besittelse av slikt materiale, tok påtalemyndigheten ut tiltale.
Simon Walsh tilhørte det øvre sjikt av advokater i London. Da påtalemyndigheten tok ut sak var det ødeleggende for hans karriere. Han har aldri lagt skjul på at han er gay. Men da det ble oppdaget ekstrem-porno på hans datamaskin passet det ikke bare dårlig til hans status og yrke, det var også lovstridig.
Storbritannia har nemlig vedtatt en lov som gjør det straffbart å skildre seksuelle handlinger som kan skade.
In Mr Walsh’s case the prosecution was based on the relatively new Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which outlaws pornography depicting acts which would cause “serious harm to the anus, breast or genitals”.
Men hans forsvarer prosederte på at filmene eller bildene kun viste handlinger mellom samtykkende voksne. Et bilde av et barn var over den seksuelle lavalder, og Walsh hadde ikke åpnet det, hevdet forsvareren.
“To use this law to prosecute people who are in possession of images of private sexual acts between consensual adults which are legal to perform is nonsensical,” Mr Walsh’s lawyer Myles Jackman said yesterday.
Grunnen til at Walsh’ eposter kom for en dag var at han ble anklaget for å delta i en barnepornonettverk.
Mr Walsh’s Hotmail account was originally examined in April last year after the openly gay barrister was inaccurately accused of being involved in a child pornography ring.
Police found images on his email of men anal fisting and using “urethral sounds”.
Yesterday the 50-year-old, once tipped as a future London mayoral candidate, was found not guilty on charges of possessing extreme pornography. He also received a letter from the Bar Standards Board to say he was free to practise as a barrister again, a small step to restoring a reputation tainted by the charges.
After a week of graphic evidence, it took the jury of six men and six women just 90 minutes to find Mr Walsh – a magistrate and City of London alderman – not guilty on all counts, a decision he and his lawyers describe as a triumph of common sense. Crucially, the acts depicted in images found in Mr Walsh’s email were legal and involved consenting adults.
Saken hadde en knusende virkning på Walsh’ karriere.
The accusations had a devastating effect on his career. He was sacked from his post as aide to the London Mayor Boris Johnson, lost his position with the London Fire Authority and volunteered to withdraw from practising as a barrister.
Before the court, Mr Walsh insisted the images he had sent were of consensual sexual acts and nobody was harmed, adding: “I know the limits and I respect them”.
The jury was in agreement and cleared him of five charges of possessing extreme pornographic images.
A sixth charge, of possessing an indecent image of an under-age boy, was also dismissed after the defence claimed the person featured was over-age, and that Mr Walsh could not recall opening the file anyway.
Saken reiser en rekke spørsmål.
Påtalemyndigheten blir kritisert for å ha reist saken, men den svarer at den bare følger loven. Loven sier at slik billedlig fremstilling er forbudt.
Walsh fikk medhold fra kommentatorer som mener påtalemyndigheten burde utvist bedre skjønn.
After the verdict, the legal commentator David Allen Green described the case as a “shameful and intrusive prosecution”.
Mr Jackman, of Hodge Jones and Allen, said he would ask the CPS to review its guidelines on prosecuting such cases in light of the verdict as well as elements of consent in Section 63.
A CPS spokesperson said: “Possession of images that depict acts likely to cause serious injury is illegal and the CPS prosecutes the law as it stands. We do not make the law and cannot change it.“
Et større spørsmål er om det er forskjell på Loke og Tor, om Walsh status gjør at han møter større forståelse. Et annet spørsmål er ikke bare klasse-samhørighet, og kollegialitet, men om homofile i høye posisjoner vinner aksept for et privatliv som ellers ville vekke anstøt og blokkere karriere. Dette gjelder for øvrig ikke bare homofile: høyere samfunnslag aksepterer stilltiende ekstrem seksualitet som gjør andre mennesker til ofre. Det mest eklatante eksempel er Dominque Strauss Kahn.
Pressen tar ikke opp denne seksualisering og normalisering av perversiteter, de lever av den.
Interessegrupper arbeider for normalisering av det som tidligere foregikk i mørke kroker og ble sett på som perversiteter.
But Jane Fae, a writer and co-convenor for Consenting Adult Action Network, retorted: “The CPS claim they are just following the law but they are there to balance public interest and decide whether or not to prosecute, In this case they have wrecked someone’s life and career for no reason.”
Extreme porn acquittal puts prosecutors in the dock
CPS criticised for being out of touch and threatening personal freedoms after barrister is cleared
