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As digital technologies become an increasingly vital part of everyone’s business and personal lives, so the opportunities for cybercrime have exploded.
Social media, smart technologies and the ever increasing integration of online services across devices and platforms has created new forms of criminality. It has also changed the nature of much long-standing criminality.
Successfully defending against criminal allegations involving cybercrime requires a thorough understanding of the technologies involved, and the many different ways in which the evidence contained in them can be used.
Hickman & Rose’s serious and general crime team contains lawyers specialising in this area of law who work alongside the UK’s best external experts to provide a complete defence solution.
The advent of the ‘internet era’ has led to the creation of a number of specific digital sexual criminal offences. While the evidence in these matters can, at first glance, appear clear cut, the devil is often in the detail. The prosecution’s ability to achieve a conviction (or the defence’s to secure acquittal) rests on having full understanding of the complex technologies behind the charges.
Offences such as possessing or downloading indecent images, voyeurism and grooming are all recent additions to the statute book.
To take one of these: it is an offence to take, make, possess or distribute indecent images under the Protection Against Children Act 1978. In practice, this is most often used to prosecute child pornography allegations. Whilst the term ‘make’ suggests creation of an image this term has been widely interpreted by the courts – and is most often used – to describe downloading an image or opening an attachment containing such an image.
As with all cybercrimes, it is particularly important for anyone who suspects they may be investigated in connection with a digital sexual offence to ensure they, or their legal representatives, act swiftly to preserve and retain digital evidence.
Digital communication technologies also form an increasingly important element of many other sexual offences. The evidential matrix in prosecutions for crimes such as rape and sexual assault regularly makes use of mobile phone communications and email.
However, there have been a number of recent high-profile sexual offence cases which have highlighted how this type of evidence, when revealed in full and properly analysed, need not point the same way. Additional evidential material obtained via the disclosure process has often turned up important digital evidence which, by putting the allegations in their full context, have exposed fundamental flaws in a prosecution case.
The strategic use of the correct disclosure tactics, deployed at the right time and coupled with analysis by the best technical experts, can go a long way towards securing the correct result in these matters.
The threatened disclosure of digital sexual images or videos is a relatively new evolution to long- standing crimes. Sometimes called “sextortion” or “revenge porn”, these crimes involve the publishing of private sexual images. We often represent people threatened with such publication and recognise that the implications, both personally and professionally, can be hugely damaging.
In addition to this, cases of harassment or stalking increasingly now require an analysis of a client’s electronic devices, including their communications and social media. This often takes many hours of meticulous casework that can be used to undermine the prosecution case.
Complying with data protection law has become significant concern for individuals and businesses. This complex area of law requires specialist advice in relation to both complying with the necessary requirements and the implications where there has been a breach.
Most allegations will be investigated by the Information Commissioners’ Office (‘ICO’) which has the power to determine and issue sanctions in relation to relatively minor data breach incidences.
However, the Data Protection Act 2018 includes criminal data protection offences which can be investigated by both the ICO and a police force.
Hickman & Rose has long experience in digital criminal matters, and in handling complex digital evidential matrices.
Our lawyers works with the best experts in the field and pride themselves on the ability to master every aspect of the often very complex evidence.
We are proactive in handling requests for electronic material and will often assist clients with obtaining a forensic copy of their devices before interview so if devices need to be provided to police we have a copy to retain.
We have experience in representing clients accused of breaching data protection regulations and have successfully persuaded the ICO to take no action against our clients.
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The ability to…
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