A prosecution for possession of indecent images of a child has been stayed as an abuse of process after the Crown Prosecution Service refused to make copies of the images for the defence, claiming that to do so would lead CPS staff to commit an offence.
The Court of Appeal last week upheld the decision of Judge Pearson at Portsmouth Crown Court to stay a 20-count indictment, after the CPS offered ‘wholly inadequate’ arrangements for the defence to examine the material. The crown court had issued a court order compelling the CPS to disclose the images to the defence.
Pearson said the CPS proposal that the defendant, known as LR, could view the images on a laptop in a conference room at court within sight and earshot of the officer in the case posed a ‘serious risk’ of interference with the confidentiality principle. He ordered the CPS to make copies of the 240 images to be shown to the defendant, part of whose case was that some of the images were of women over 18.
The CPS refused to comply, stating it would be a criminal offence for it to make copies of the images, even though it may have a defence to a potential prosecution. In a letter to the defendant’s solicitors, the CPS said: ‘[We] do not consider that the fact that there may be a defence is a good and sufficient reason for the CPS to commit an offence.’
The CPS said it could not be assured that any defence firm could provide sufficient safeguards to ensure the safe handling and retention of the allegedly unlawful images.
Dismissing the CPS’s appeal, lord chief justice Igor Judge said: ‘The starting point is simple. Orders made by Crown court judges must be obeyed.’
Judge said that where there is a dispute about the nature or gravity of material, the material ‘should be made available for examination in circumstances of confidentiality between the defendant and his lawyers’.
He added: ‘Lawyers and jurors alike must be trusted to act in good faith, unless and until there is some reason to suggest that they are deficient in any respect.’
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