The CPS has decided to press charges against Simon Walsh for possession of images depicting fisting. The defendant risks a prison sentence of up to three years and inclusion on the sex offenders’ register. Much will hinge on whether this (legal) practice is likely to cause serious harm, in which case such images would indeed fall foul of section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act.
It seems perverse that morality and free speech should be policed in this way, when, as we were reminded by the recent Newsnight reports on the topic, there have been no prosecutions for FGM in this country.
