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Crime

Revenge Porn Offences

Disclosing private sexual images without the consent of one or more people in those images (commonly referred to as ‘revenge porn’) is a criminal offence with a potential sentence of up to 2 years in jail and the requirement to register as a sex offender. A conviction could also ruin your reputation and affect your career and family. We can offer same day appointments including virtual or out of hours if you work.

 

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Our specialist sexual offences defence team have over 40 years of experience advising and representing clients in relation to all types of sexual offences, including revenge porn. We offer a highly detailed approach, strong advocacy skills and sympathetic personal support to help make dealing with these charges easier on you while giving you the best chance of a positive outcome.

In many cases, we are able to help clients to avoid charges or see charges dropped by offering the right early advice during police interview and investigation. If your case goes to trial, we can ensure you have the best possible representation to help you prove your innocence or minimise any legal penalties if conviction cannot be avoided.

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Why choose JD Spicer Zeb?

  • 1000's of Cases Dropped
  • 24/7 Emergency Phonelines
  • 100's of Years Combined Experience
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If you have been arrested or charged with a revenge porn offence, you can contact us 24-hours a day, seven days a week for an immediate free initial consultation, expert legal advice and representation.

We speak a variety of languages across our team and work with a number of accredited interpreters, meaning our criminal defence lawyers can provide the clear, effective legal advice and representation in any language.

For a free initial consultation on dealing with revenge porn allegations, please contact our local offices in London, Birmingham or Manchester.

Need immediate legal support for a revenge porn offence? Our accredited Police Station Representatives and solicitors are available 24 hours a day 365 days a year using the emergency numbers listed at the top of the page.


How can we help?

Common questions

We always work with the most experienced and best leading UK barristers, KCs (Kings Counsel). We cover all criminal cases 24/7 at the police station and court. Offices in London, Birmingham, and Manchester cover cases across England and Wales. We can offer Legal Aid and affordable Private fee agreements. We can see you the same day, including virtually. Our Senior Partners supervise all of our cases.

How quickly do you respond?

We respond quickly even during out of hours. We do not get our work by paying for online adverts but based on the fact that few criminal law firms can match our 45 years of experience. Most of our cases are still from word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied clients. We are called daily by dissatisfied clients from firms with less experience than us. We respond very quickly to new enquiries. We know what clients seek and so we update clients rapidly.

Can you get cases dropped?

Yes, read about the recent cases we've helped our clients with here.

We always keep you updated and give straightforward advice. We will get cases dropped early where the case is weak or should not be prosecuted. We will be upfront with you about where you can benefit from a good result with an early guilty plea, such as a discount on your sentence. As we work on cases across all levels with clients from all walks of life, we are excellent at giving clear, spot-on advice. As an established firm, we can allocate a whole team to your case often at short notice to secure evidence to minimise the damage to you. 

Have you won any awards?

OUR PROFESSIONAL BODY THE LAW SOCIETY AWARDED US IN OCTOBER 2020 WITH THE EXCELLENCE IN CLIENT SERVICE AWARD AND STATED - 

"JD Spicer Zeb demonstrated a clear commitment to client service through their work with vulnerable and diverse individuals in what can be severely traumatic circumstances".

Do you offer free consultations?

Where it is possible, we aim to provide an initial consultation to you. If we can speak to you, we can if required inform you about  –

  • Whether we can take the case on and our relevant experience.
  • Public and private funding benefits.
  • Assistance in applying for legal aid where we are likely to accept instructions.
  • An outline of options in police interview only. We will not advise you on which option to adopt.
  • Providing our free written guide explaining the police station process.
  • The gravity of routine and day-to-day offences you face.
  • Consequences of not attending the court or police station.
  • Consequences of interfering with any witnesses.
  • Retaining any evidence in support of your case.
  • If possible an outline of the elements of the offence that the police or CPS must prove.
  • This consultation will normally be by telephone or email and will only be for as long as we deem necessary to establish if we can act for you. If we cannot usefully give you any advice in this manner then we will not continue with the consultation. We will not discuss the case in depth for you to be able to decide on your plea or any significant aspect of the case, as this cannot be undertaken informally.
  • Referring you, if possible, to other firms for matters out of our specialism or if we cannot help.

Consultations do not apply to the following cases –

  • If we do not intend to take the case on.
  • Road Traffic cases, drink driving, drug driving, driving bans, speeding, no insurance, mobile phone use, points etc.
  • In all cases where we do not have the capacity to take your case or the availability of suitably qualified staff to provide an initial free consultation. This is applicable in all cases but especially where a more senior lawyer is required because of your personal needs or the complexity of the case.
  • Harassment/stalking/ coercive behaviour/malicious communications or road traffic cases and most sensitive cases. These cases are often too complicated to assess in short consultations.
  • The locations concerned may be too distant to represent you adequately or it may not be cost-effective for you or us.
  • The case is too complicated to assess or raises various charges or facts, complexity, or history to be considered informally or in a short consultation.
  • In most Legal aid transfers where legal aid is granted to another firm except in very grave cases, we may assess the case and merits for a transfer.
  • If your relationship has broken down with your existing solicitor or several solicitors.
  • If you have been released under investigation and have already had a police station attendance. 
  • If you hold legal aid with another firm and seek a second opinion.
  • If you are calling on behalf of the client as a friend or family member unless you have full authority and full facts.
  • To businesses.
  • Advising whether you were given good advice by your other solicitor.
  • Whether to decide to plead guilty or not guilty.
  • Whether you have an arguable defence in law or factually complicated defences.
  • Any advice you have had after your first court appearance.
  • Any advice on appeal on conviction or sentence.
  • If we feel we are unable to communicate with you.
  • If we are likely to be conflicted or breach our professional rules.

Our expertise with revenge porn offences

We are highly experienced in representing clients accused of all types of sexual offences, with specific experience handling revenge porn cases. We know how challenging it is to face allegations of this nature, but our criminal defence team can offer the clear legal expertise and sympathetic personal support you need to secure the best available outcome for you.

Our team are highly skilled in dealing with digital evidence, including mobile phone and app data as well as evidence from social media. A strong understanding of this type of evidence is vital for revenge porn cases and helps to ensure no detail or possible angle of defence is overlooked.

We have strong working relationships with many of the country’s leading criminal defence barristers specialising in sexual offence cases, including for revenge porn offences. We can therefore ensure that you have the best possible representative if your case goes for trial.

What to do if you are accused of a revenge porn offence

If you are arrested on suspicion of committing a revenge porn offence, it is essential to know your legal rights so you can make sure you do not say or do anything to unintentionally harm your defence.

During a police interview in connection to a revenge porn offence, please keep in mind the following key facts:

  1. You do not have to answer any questions asked by the police.
  2. You should never answer any police questions without a solicitor present.
  3. You have the right to free legal representation.
  4. You can use the duty solicitor available or choose your own lawyer.

When arrested on suspicion of a revenge porn offence, the arresting officers must tell you the specific offence you are accused of committing and they must caution you by using the words:

“You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

Following a police interview for a revenge porn offence, one of the following will occur:

If you are charged with a revenge porn offence:

  • A date will be set for a court hearing
  • You will either:

Please be aware, if you are released with no further action or under investigation, you can be rearrested or summonsed to attend court at a later date.

What is a revenge porn offence?

A new offence of ‘Disclosing Private Sexual Images’ was created under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 and is commonly referred to as ‘revenge porn’.

The offence involves the offender taking private photographs or video of the victim and uploading them to the internet for the purposes of humiliating the victim. This might involve placing the images on social media, porn sites or private groups online.

Penalties for revenge porn offences

There is a maximum potential sentence of up to 2 years’ imprisonment on conviction for a revenge porn offence.

The actual sentence on conviction for disclosing private sexual images will depend on the level of harm caused and the degree of culpability of the offender.

Factors that will be considered when deciding the degree of harm to the victim include:

  • The level of distress caused
  • The amount of psychological harm
  • The practical impact of the offence

Factors that will affect the degree of culpability the offender is considered to have include:

  • The amount of planning involved
  • How widely the images were distributed
  • Whether there were repeated efforts to keep the images available publicly
  • Whether the offender acted in a way to maximise the victim’s distress or humiliation

If you are convicted of a revenge porn offence, you will also be required to register as a sex offender, which is likely to affect your future employment and personal relationships.

What defence is there against revenge porn accusations?

There can be various potential defences against accusations of disclosing private sexual images depending on the circumstances.

If you were not the source of the images, it may be possible to show this by identifying another likely source e.g. if your phone or the alleged victim’s phone or other digital device were hacked.

It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he or she reasonably believed that the disclosure was necessary for the purposes of preventing, detecting or investigating crime.

If you were the source of the images, it can be possible to argue that the victim suffered lesser harm or that you have reduced culpability. For example, it may be possible to show that the decision to release the images was spontaneous and not pre-planned, or that you only shared the images in a limited way and others were responsible for sharing them more widely.

Contact our revenge porn offences defence lawyers today

For a free initial consultation, urgent specialist advice, immediate representation or to speak to us confidentially about allegations of committing a revenge porn offence at any time in the past, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

You can contact our dedicated criminal defence lawyers in London, Birmingham, and Manchester by telephone on:

  • Brent & Camden London Office: 020 7624 7771
  • Manchester Office: 0161 835 1638
  • Birmingham Office: 0121 614 3333
  • City of London: 0207 624 7771 (our senior Solicitors and Partners can meet by appointment in the City)

Or email: solicitors@jdspicer.co.uk

Alternatively, you can fill out our quick online enquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

24/7 legal representation for revenge porn allegations

Please get in touch for a free initial consultation with one of our expert criminal defence solicitors, as well as immediate representation and advice on dealing with allegations of a revenge porn offence, or any other type of sexual offence.

We are available to represent clients all over England and Wales at any time, so please contact our Emergency Number: 07836 577 556.


How can we help?

  • Umar Zeb
      • Umar Zeb
      • Senior Partner - Head of Private Client Crime
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  • Lisa Nicol
      • Lisa Nicol
      • Managing Partner - Head of Crime & Serious Cases
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  • James O'Donnell
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  • Sanjay Cholera
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  • Peter Mulhearn
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  • Samuel Oduntan
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  • Barry Linnane
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  • Stuart Lloyd
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  • Robert Wong
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  • Rebecca Forbes
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