Following my article of 16 March 2015 in which I identified the new offence of “revenge porn” the first high profile prosecution arising under Communications Act 2003 or the Malicious Communications Act 1988 is currently progressing through the criminal courts.
The “celebrity” Josie Cunningham described by the Daily Mail as “NHS Boob Scrounger” recently appeared in court denying posting revenge porn images of the man reported to be fathering her fourth child.
Ms Cunningham was engaged to Mr Goy after a relationship of two months but the parties separated in February.
Ms Cunningham has been accused of posting naked pictures of Mr Goy on to her Twitter account where his genitals were covered with the cartoon of a mushroom.
It is alleged that the images were posted on 9 May. Ms Cunningham it is reported notified the court that she took the photo but says she had consent to do so.
The prosecution identified that an aggravating feature in the case was a number of people who had seen the photos as it had been retweeted by a national paper which had caused Mr Goy distress.
The prosecution continued that whilst you could not see Mr Goy’s head the victim could be clearly identified by the tattoos on his body.
It is reported that Ms Cunningham’s defence lawyer identified that Ms Cunningham had consent to put the photograph up, had done so in order to raise Mr Goy’s profile because he wanted to be a professional body builder. She has denied that it was sexually explicit as his genitalia was covered.
It is contended that the photograph was released after Mr Goy had allegedly sold his story to a Sunday newspaper.
Ms Cunningham was arrested in May and this was her second appearance at the Leeds Magistrates Court. Her first appearance was uneffective as a legal mix up had left the magistrates unable to hear the case.
Ms Cunningham was arrested in May under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
Ms Cunningham was released from court on bail with the condition that she does not directly or indirectly try and contact the complainant including via text or social media.
Whether Ms Cunningham therefore will be the first high profile person to be convicted under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 remains to be seen.
If you would like to discuss this or any other family law issue please contact Peter Marshall, a partner in our family law team on 01762 74433 or email family.staustell@stephens-scown.co.uk with any queries.