Section 65: Defences: general
470.This section sets out a series of defences to the offence of possession of extreme pornographic images. These defences are set out in subsection (2). They are the same as for the possession of indecent images of children under section 160(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. They are:
that the person had a legitimate reason for being in possession of the image; this will cover those who can demonstrate that their legitimate business means that they have a reason for possessing the image;
that the person had not seen the image and therefore neither knew, nor had cause to suspect, that the images held were extreme pornographic images; this will cover those who are in possession of offending images but are unaware of the nature of the images; and
that the person had not asked for the image - it having been sent without request - and that he had not kept it for an unreasonable period of time; this will cover those who are sent unsolicited material and who act quickly to delete it or otherwise get rid of it.