A small error crept into the last paragraph of Michael Hirst’s otherwise useful article on Cyberobscenity
and jurisdiction. (I was the defence expert in Waddon and consulted though not instructed in Perrin.) The strict liability offence for possession of child pornography is in fact s160 Criminal Justice Act 1988 not the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Child, as opposed to adult, pornography is usually prosecuted on the basis of ‘making’, ‘advertising’ or ‘distributing’ as well as possession rather than ‘publication’ under the Protection of Children Act, 1978 and often on the basis of what is found on the defendant’s computer rather than on a remote Web site, possibly outside the jurisdiction.
