LIVE updates: Billy Charlton found GUILTY of distributing an indecent image of a child following trial
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Charlton, formerly of Seaham, now of of Sidmouth Road, Bensham, Gateshead is accused of one count of distributing an indecent image of a child on June 28, 2018.
The trial is expected to conclude on Wednesday.
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LIVE updates as Billy Charlton stands trial over indecent image
Prosecution and defence solicitors concluded their cases on Tuesday
Prosecutors claim William Charlton forwarded the illegal image, that had been sent to him by someone else, to 47 people in a distribution group over the messaging app on his mobile phone.
The 56-year-old claims he did not view the 18 second video, which featured a boy aged between 10-14 with the animal, before he forwarded it on and had no reason to suspect its contents were illegal.
WhatsApp message
The case centres around a WhatsApp message containing the image which was forwarded from Charlton’s phone to a distribution list.
Charlton must prove to the court he did not see the image he forwarded on, the jury was told on Monday.
Prosecuting Mr West told the jury it has been agreed that the file was indecent and that it had been forwarded but Charlton’s case is that he was not aware of what it had contained.
Charlton is accused of one count distributing an indecent image of a child on June 28, 2018.
Her Honour Judge Mallett told the jury yesterday they had been discharged from reaching a verdict on count one, which relates to the downloading of the video.
The jury were told on Monday that Charlton had admitted two further charges of possession of extreme pornography in June 2019.
One image depicted a person in sexual activity with an animal and the other an act ‘likely to result in serious injury’.