Trojan defence clears man on child porn charges

Reasonable doubt

A man was cleared of possession of child porn this week after experts testified that a Trojan horse infection on his PC could have downloaded 14 depraved images without his knowledge.

Karl Schofield, 39, of Reading, was found not guilty after prosecutors accepted expert testimony that the unnamed Trojan could have been responsible for the presence of 14 child porn images on Schofield's PC.

It's believed to be the first time such a defence against child porn charges has been run in a UK court case.

Prosecutor Nadia Chbat told Judge Stanley Spence: "The Crown would not be able to say he is the only person who knew of these images on his computer."

Local news site get Reading has more background on the case, including details of the sustained harassment suffered by Schofield in the two year run-up to the case. ®