R V Bowden - Facts

Facts

Bowden had been convicted at the Crown Court in Cambridge on 12 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978. Before being amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 1(a) of the 1978 Act had read:

1.- (1) It is an offence for a person-

(a) to take, or permit to be taken, any indecent photograph of a child (meaning in this Act a person under the age of 16);

As amended it read:

1.- (1) It is an offence for a person-

(a) to take, or permit to be taken or to make, any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child

The 1994 Act had added the concept of pseudo-photographs to the law.

Bowden submitted that the making offence applied only to pseudo-photographs. The prosecution submitted that it applied to photographs since the 1978 Act was concerned with the further dissemination of indecent photographs as well as their production.