The Prosecution identified 2 indecent images of children on an android tablet computer and the Defendant faced a trial charged with deliberately making those images on the device.
A mobile phone forensic expert at Athena Forensics was instructed by the solicitor acting for the Defendant a week before the Trial was due to start, however, the evidence was obtained from the Police on the same day and was examined and the report completed before the Trial began.
The mobile phone forensic expert found that the indecent images had been stored as a result of ransomware malware. The software had been automatically stored to the Downloads folder of the device by the Google Chrome Internet browsing software when the user had selected an innocuous link on the Pornhub website whilst browsing lawful adult pornography.
The Prosecution dropped the charges relating to the indecent images on the morning of the trial.
