Tuesday, 30 June 2009

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Man cleared over Girls Aloud blog

Darryn Walker found not guilty at Newcastle Crown Court

Girls Aloud were not at the court hearing

A blogger who wrote a post imagining the kidnap, rape and murder of Girls Aloud has been cleared of obscenity.

Darryn Walker, 35, was arrested and charged under the Obscene Publications Act in February 2008 when his ‘Girls (Scream) Aloud’ article appeared on a fantasy porn site.

The blog was so graphic that the Internet Watch Foundation alerted police.

But Darryn's defence successfully argued that the blog could only be found using a specific internet search
term, and was not easy to find.

Judge Esmond Faulks returned a formal not guilty verdict at Newcastle Crown Court when the prosecution offered no evidence yesterday.

‘It was never his intention to frighten or intimidate the members of Girls Aloud,’ Darryn's lawyer Tim Owen QC told the court.

‘He had written what he had described as an adult celebrity parody and was only meant to be for an audience of like-minded people.

'As soon as he was aware of the upset and fuss that had been created, he took steps himself to take the article off the website.’