Hoque, of Hardwick Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough, had denied 20 charges of possessing prohibited images of children and was due to stand trial this week.īut he pleaded guilty to 10 specimen charges. He added: “The expert was able to see that the defendant had been actively searching for this material on the internet.” They were classified as prohibited images as they depicted young girls, some in school uniforms, some exposing themselves or taking part in sexual activity. He said officers found 288 still and 99 moving images, but none were of real people. Police found the images when they seized Hoque’s computer from his home on June 13, 2012, said prosecutor Harry Hadfield. It seems there are many thousands of people in this country, if they are less then careful, who may find themselves in that position too.” He said: “This case should serve as a warning to every Manga and Anime fan to be careful. These are cartoons.”Īnd Mr Bennett revealed that such banned images were freely available on legitimate sites.
His barrister Richard Bennett said: “These are not what would be termed as paedophilic images. He admitted 10 counts of possessing prohibited images of children at Teesside Crown Court. Robul Hoque, 39, is believed to be the first in the UK hauled before court over his collection of Japanese Manga or Anime-style images alone. A jobless animation fan has made legal history as he was convicted of having illegal pictures of cartoon children.
