Law Weblog

Unique powers to police bedrooms

Tuesday 30 December 2008 at 6:07 am | In News | Post Comment Critics of a new law banning “extreme” pornography say that legislation starting this month forbidding the possession of “an extreme pornographic image” will criminalise thousands of previously law-abiding people who have a harmless taste for unconventional sex.

Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 comes into force on 26 January and makes owning offending pictures a criminal offence punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.  An image is deemed to be extreme if it “is grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character” and portrays in any way an act which threatens a person’s life, or which results or appears likely to result in serious injury to someone’s genitals or breasts.

The definition of bestiality and necrophilia do not appear to present a problem (and are illegal acts already) but other definitions are so vague that even images of consenting adults engaging in fictional violence will now be outlawed, giving Britain the toughest anti-porn laws in Europe.

The Consenting Adult Action Network (Caan) plan to burn their pornography collections outside Parliament.

The law was passed after a campaign by Liz Longhurst whose daughter, Jane, was strangled by Graham Coutts in 2003. During his trial, Coutts said he had a fixation with asphyxiation porn and necrophilia. A petition started by Mrs Longhurst to outlaw violent pornography garnered 50,000 signatures.

The Bill went through the Commons unchallenged and only in the House of Lords was there any significant opposition. Baroness Miller, the Liberal Democrat peer, argued that the legislation would justify the Government “walking into people’s bedrooms and turning them into criminals simply for viewing something”.

Enthusiasts of gothic horror and burlesque shows – which often feature pseudo-violence such as fake knives and participants covered in mock blood, say they are concerned that their artistic creativity will be stifled.