Section 67I Defences to offences under section 67HF1

England and Wales

(1)

Where a person is charged with an offence under section 67H(1), it is a defence for the person to prove any of the matters mentioned in subsection (2).

(2)

The matters are—

(a)

that the person had a legitimate reason for being in possession of the image concerned;

(b)

that the person had not seen the image concerned and did not know, nor had any cause to suspect, it to be an image of the kind mentioned in section 67H(1);

(c)

that the person—

(i)

was sent the image concerned without any prior request having been made by or on behalf of the person, and

(ii)

did not keep it for an unreasonable time;

(d)

that—

(i)

the person directly participated in the act portrayed as person A or person B mentioned in section 67H(2)(a),

(ii)

the act did not involve the infliction of any non-consensual harm on any person, and

(iii)

neither A nor B was under 16.

(3)

Where a person is charged with an offence under section 67H(4), it is a defence for the person to prove any of the matters mentioned in subsection (4).

(4)

The matters are—

(a)

that the person had a legitimate reason for publishing the image concerned to the persons to whom they published it;

(b)

that the person had not seen the image concerned and did not know, nor had any cause to suspect, it to be an image of the kind mentioned in section 67H(1);

(c)

that—

(i)

the person directly participated in the act portrayed as person A or person B mentioned in section 67H(2)(a),

(ii)

the act did not involve the infliction of any non-consensual harm on any person,

(iii)

neither A nor B was under 16, and

(iv)

the person only published the image to person B or A (as the case may be).

(5)

In this section “non-consensual harm” has the same meaning as in section 66.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Ss. 67H-67J inserted (E.W.) (6.11.2026) by Crime and Policing Act 2026 (c. 20), ss. 107(1), 255(1); S.I. 2026/1090, reg. 2(d)