Lacking Evidence of Intent

A police examination of a computer found pictures of child abuse in the Temporary Internet Files folder (also known as the Internet cache).

My expert witness report describes the absence of any evidence of intent to view indecent images of children.

Personal

1.This expert witness report was prepared by Graham Dilloway of 39 Conham Hill Bristol BS15 3AW. I am a Member of the British Computer Society, the chartered professional body for the computer industry in the UK. I am a member of the Academy of Experts. I have worked with computers for more than 30 years. This work has all involved the implementation and configuration of computers, their operating systems and the core software applications of a computer environment (e.g. word processors and spreadsheets). I have worked with personal computers almost exclusively for more than twenty years.

Instructions

2.I have discussed my instructions in telephone conversations with S Solicitors and I understand my instructions to be that I should report on the actions taken by Mr D to view and to save the pictures in this case.

3.I received a letter dated 10 November 2010 from S Solicitors enclosing documents that include an undated statement by DC P and a print of part of Exhibit DJM 1.

4.On 2 December 2010, I received, in a transfer of files to my computer, all of Exhibit DJM 1.

Temporary Internet Files

5.All page numbers in my report refer to the 75 page PDF document that was enclosed with the S letter dated 10 November 2010.

6.Pages 4 to 12 and Pages 13 to 16 of Exhibit DJM 1 list pictures that are described as child abuse images or bestiality or extreme pornography. All of the pictures listed on Pages 4 to 12 and 13 to 16 are in a “Temporary Internet Files” folder with one exception (an “orphan” as discussed below).

7.I can use web browser software, such as Internet Explorer, to view web pages from the Internet. The content of a web page is automatically saved on my computer by the web browser software when the browser software visits the page. The web page content is saved in a folder called “Temporary Internet Files” also known as the browser cache.

8.Browser software automatically manages the content of the browser cache with files being automatically added when a web page is visited and files being automatically deleted to make space for the addition of new files.

9.I have seen nothing to show that Mr D knew that the browser cache existed or that it contained any pictures. I have seen nothing to show that Mr D could have found the browser cache and viewed the content.

10.I can cause browser software to visit a web page by typing a location for that web page into the browser software. I have seen nothing to show that Mr D typed a web page location into browser software when the location typed was obviously a page containing illegal pictures.

11.I can cause my web browser to visit a web page by clicking on another web page. I can use Google to search for hotels in Brighton. The browser software will display a list of hotels in Brighton and I can click on an item in the list to display a web page concerned with that specific hotel. The area on that I click on to display a web page is called a “link”.

12.I have seen nothing to show any link that was clicked to cause any of the pictures listed in Pages 4 to 12 and Pages 13 to 16 of Exhibit DJM 1 to be displayed.

13.A web page that is visited by web browser software may be too big to fit on the screen of my computer. I might click to view a hotel web page. The hotel web page might have a picture at the top of the page and another picture at the bottom of the page with some text between the two pictures. There may be a lot of text so that only the top half of the web page is displayed on screen. I might never see the picture at the bottom of the page but that picture would be automatically saved in the browser cache.

14.I have seen nothing to show that the pictures from Pages 4 to 12 and Pages 13 to 16 of Exhibit DJM 1 were displayed on the screen of the computer.

Web Pages

15.Pages 65 to 70 of Exhibit DJM 1 list web pages (labelled as “HTML Pages”).

16.There have been times when I am browsing web pages when I have clicked on a web page expecting to see one thing and the web page that is displayed by the click has not been what I expected.

17.There have been times when I am browsing web pages when web pages have popped-up on the screen of my computer without any action by me.

Orphan File

18.A file listed on Page 16 of Exhibit DJM 1 is described as an “orphan”. It is my understanding that this file has been deleted because the folder containing the file had been deleted. I do not know of any way that this file could be viewed on a typical computer. I have seen nothing to show the location of the file before the file and folder were deleted.

Summary

19.I have seen nothing to show that Mr D knew that the browser cache existed or that it contained any pictures. I have seen nothing to show that Mr D could have found the browser cache and viewed the content.

20.I have seen nothing to show that Mr D typed a web page location into browser software when the location typed was obviously a page containing illegal pictures.

21.I have seen nothing to show any link that was clicked to cause any of the pictures listed in Pages 4 to 12 and Pages 13 to 16 of Exhibit DJM 1 to be displayed.

22.I have seen nothing to show that the pictures from Pages 4 to 12 and Pages 13 to 16 of Exhibit DJM 1 were displayed on the screen of the computer.

23.I understand my duty to the Court and I confirm that I have complied with and will continue to comply with that duty.

24.I confirm that insofar as the facts stated in my expert witness report are within my own knowledge I have made it clear which they are and I believe them to be true, and that the opinions I have expressed represent my true and complete professional opinion.

Graham Dilloway Expert Witness	3 December 2010
39 Conham Hill Bristol BS15 3AW