R v Spark

The appellant, Mr Spark, was found guilty of making and possessing objectionable publications in the form of logs of his sexualised online chats with minors, and sexually explicit images of children. He appealed against his convictions and sentence. The court considered several arguments advanced on his behalf, including the proposition that the material in question did not amount to a publication for the purposes of the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993 because it was not intended for public distribution. The court rejected this argument, finding that the definition of publication did not require availability to the public. The court also found that the convictions on nine of the ten counts of making an objectionable publication should stand, despite a misdirection on the knowledge element of the offence, because the evidence of guilt was overwhelming. The court dismissed the appeal against sentence, finding that the sentence of two and a half years imprisonment was not manifestly excessive.