anyone know about the law and emails?

[ThatllDoPig]

Family dispute and I can't find info. Please can anyone tell me if it is true that if someone sends you an unsolicited email containing illegal images, you are then guilty of possessing them, and can be arrested and convicted, even if you didn't download from a website? and didn't want the images?
Any help much appreciated.

You can have a defence that you did not ask for them and did not keep them once you knew what they were.

If you reported them to the police as soon as you received them you would have a pretty solid defence.

Thanks scurry do you know that for sure? Please tell me more about it. Have you experience of this? are you a lawyer? Do you know where I can find out more? Sorry to bombard you but this is causing so much stress.

Don't see how this can be true. Suggest you delete such messages at once and do The following; ask the sender not to send such things again (only if you know them personally of course) or block the sender completely. Also, if this is happening at work, then also consider reporting sender to manager or HR.

The person didn't report to the police. God knows why. It has now caused family breakdown and distrust. It is a mess and I want to find out the truth.

Not a lawyer! Go to cps website and indecent photographs of children, there is lots of info there.

Technically, the elements of the offence would be made out if you are sent an image, but it is a defence to show that you did not solicit them to be sent to you and you did not keep it for more time than is 'reasonable'. Ie, if someone sent you an email, you opened it, saw what the image was and immediately deleted it from your computer and email server, you would have a defence. Also evidentially, it becomes harder for the police to prove you ever had it, so they would have to have good reason to conduct a forensic examination of your hard drive.

If someone has not deleted the image straight away, or has not reported someone who sent them the image, it begs a very serious question why.

Good info here

Thank you thistledew
Found what I needed.

Feel sick. but better to have the truth.