CPS News Brief

40 year old man sentenced for revenge porn

A 40 year old man has been sentenced to four months imprisonment suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to one charge relating to revenge pornography. Simon Humphrey was sentenced at St Albans Magistrates’ Court after he admitted at an earlier hearing that he had published a naked picture of the victim without her consent. A restraining order was also put in place for 18 months which means he may not contact the victim. 

In June 2015, Humphrey set the picture as his “profile picture” on Facebook intending to humiliate the victim. It was the victim’s child who first noticed the picture being used, adding further distress to the victim and her family. This was reported to the police who subsequently arrested the defendant who was charged with an offence contrary to Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

Ruth Bowskill, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Thames and Chiltern said: 

“Seeking revenge in such a vicious and public manner is completely unacceptable. By his own admission Simon Humphrey knew the damage that his actions would cause and yet this did not stop him.

“This sort of harassment and bullying will not be tolerated and we will do everything in our power to obtain justice for victims of this crime by robustly prosecuting all those who engage in such malicious activity. 

"The CPS has introduced new guidelines for its prosecutors on revenge porn and anyone who has been a victim should report it to the police so that we can continue to bring such offenders to justice."

Additional Information 

In April 2015, the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 created a new criminal offence of Revenge Pornography, making it a criminal offence to disclose private sexual photographs and films without the consent of an individual who appears in them and with the intent to cause that individual distress. A typical case of revenge pornography would involve an ex-partner uploading an intimate image of the victim to the Internet or sending it to their friends and family. It is carried out with the intention of causing distress, humiliation and embarrassment to the victim.

Previously, these cases have been prosecuted under other areas of legislation, such as the Communications Act 2003, Malicious Communications Act 1988 or the Harassment Act 1997. Under the new legislation someone convicted of an offence could face up to two years in prison and receive a fine.

 

Response to File on Four

BBC Radio 4’s File on Four is to suggest that the Crown Prosecution Service is on the “brink of collapse”.

This is nonsense and our record of delivering justice for the public speaks for itself. 

• Our overall conviction rate has been maintained at more than 80%. Last year in the Magistrates’ Court our conviction rate was 84.2%, up from 80.6% in 2004/2005. In the Crown Court, it was 79.4%, up from 75.1% in 2004/2005.
  
  More defendants are also pleading guilty which shows we are making the right decisions and building strong cases. 75.9% of our cases result in guilty pleas, up from 62.3% in 2004/2005.
  
  Like all publicly funded organisations, the CPS has played its part in reducing overall budgets. Over the last 4 years we have made savings of £338.1 million, which equates to almost 25%, comparing 2015-16 funding to 2010-11. This has been achieved while continuing to deliver justice to the public we serve, and maintaining strong performance levels.
  
  We acknowledge that there are pressures but our dedicated and highly professional staff work extremely hard to maintain this performance. This has been particularly evident in the past year when the nature of our cases has changed dramatically, with unprecedented rises in counter terrorism and sexual offences.
  
  For counter terrorism cases, our caseload has massively increased - in 2010/11, we received 298 new cases to consider (suspects/defendants). In 2014/15, the figure was 406 and if the figures for the first quarter of this year are projected to year end, we’ll see 520 new cases for 2015/16. All counter terrorism figures include cases currently going through court, appeals and pre-charge decisions.
  
  For sexual offences, last year saw the highest volumes ever of Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) cases prosecuted (107,104) and convicted (78,773) – a real achievement. These cases now comprise a sixth of our total caseload and almost a third of all Crown Court trials, up from just over a quarter in 2012/13.
  
  Sexual offences and counter terrorism are some of the most difficult and resource intensive cases we prosecute and they do present a challenge, which is why we are recruiting additional prosecutors to maintain our high performance under this changing landscape.
   
• File on Four also claims that the numbers of cracked (prepared for trial but doesn’t go to trial – often due to a last minute guilty plea by a defendant) and ineffective trials show poor performance. Ineffective trials can occur due to a number of reasons, and these are often nothing to do with the prosecution team (police and prosecutors).
  

  In the Magistrates’ Court, the defence and the courts are responsible for a higher proportion of ineffective trials than the prosecution (6.8% defence, 5.6% courts v 4.7% prosecution) 
  
  In the Crown Court, the defence are responsible for a higher proportion of ineffective trials than the prosecution (6.1% defence v 5.3% prosecution)

  In fact, over half of all trials that are ineffective for prosecution reasons are ineffective because of witness absence. We are working hard to support victims and witnesses through the court process, but it would be unfair to suggest that every witness absence is a failing of the CPS as the matter is often beyond our control. The same applies to the significant number of trials that crack due to prosecution reasons and do so because of witness issues. 
  
  The entering of late guilty pleas is another reason that trials can crack and the results from our work to secure guilty pleas earlier in the process are clear:

  In the last financial year, we increased guilty pleas secured at the first hearing in Magistrates’ Courts by 2.8%
  
  In the Crown Courts, the number of guilty pleas secured at 1st, 2nd and 3rd hearing, before the plea hearing, is up 11%

• A number of individuals have questioned the quality of CPS decision making and the quality of staff working at the CPS. In contrast to this, Dame Elish Angiolini, who conducted an independent and detailed review of how rape cases are investigated and prosecuted in London in the year 2013/14, is better placed than many to comment on this. Her report acknowledged pressures, but praised the robustness of decision making and recognised the sound and expert reasoning of prosecutors, their mature insight and good communication with victims when explaining decisions. 
  
  The results from our Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme also provide clear evidence on the quality of our decision making. In 2014/15, the CPS made 126,589 decisions which could be subject to appeal under the VRR scheme. 210 appeals were upheld, meaning just 0.17% of our cases that year were overturned.
  
  To attack the hardworking, dedicated and talented staff of the CPS is not only unfair it is ill-informed.
  
  The Crown Prosecution Service secures thousands of convictions every day across England and Wales, ensuring that offenders are brought to justice. Our lawyers now have lightweight, touch screen tablets and Wifi in court, which has transformed the way we prosecute cases. And we are leading the way on the understanding of consent in rape cases and improving the experience of victims and witnesses.
  
  We acknowledge the challenges, but the facts on our performance are clear.
  
  Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said:
  
  “Our record of delivering justice for the public speaks for itself. The overall conviction rate has been maintained at more than 80% and last year we secured more convictions for sexual offences – some of the most difficult and resource intensive cases to prosecute – than any year on record. More defendants are also pleading guilty which shows we are making the right decisions and building strong cases.
  
  “That is not to say there are not pressures, but our dedicated and highly professional staff work extremely hard to maintain this performance – particularly in the past year when the nature of our cases has changed dramatically, with unprecedented rises in counter terrorism and sexual offences. This does present a challenge and that is why we are recruiting additional prosecutors to maintain our high performance under this changing landscape.”