The UK National Crime Agency and The-Doll-House Case Dropped
Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:20 am
Hi All,
You may have been aware, that on the 5th July 2018 we had a visit from the National Crime Agency (NCA) who deal with serious and organised crime in the UK.
We were informed that they wished me to voluntarily attend an interview with the officers at a local police station. Failure to comply could possible have resulted in an arrest.
So I attended the interview and answered their questions, where they informed me that a WM small breasted head #36 had been seized at UK customs (this doll order had been sent by UPS customs cleared via Hungary, so how UK customs were involved I do not know) and that they were investigating The-Doll-House. They then seized all IT technology save the main business laptop for investigation.
So many questions and answers later, I was advised that any doll of 140cm or under would be considered a child doll and so likely to be investigated etc etc. So we took down all dolls of this size (140cm) and under, from the website.
The NCA did let us know via our solicitors that they were going to use the action of the Crown vs Turner (Canterbury) against us - essentially this guy had a 100-110cm doll (with a head that was too small for the doll IMHO) and the media were all over this as it occurred. The media did not emphasise that this man had 34,000 indecent images of children on his computer, and I believe this was his actual crime, otherwise it is simply the importation of a deemed obscene object that is potentially criminal.
So four and a half months later, I receive word through the solicitor that no further action is to be taken against Me/The-Doll-House as there is not an acceptable likelihood that a prosecution would take place in court. Although technically I am on bail, and the charges can be re-raised at any time, which sounds like coercion to me. Especially as the NCA have requested a meeting with me to discuss The-Doll-House methods of business etc.
It should be noted (specially with regards to the Turner case) that the UK authorities are viewing possession of all small dolls as a high indication that you will be in possession of indecent material, and hence the electronic searches of The-Doll-House equipment, which has little to do with the importation of potentially obscene objects.
So I believe that after my meeting with the NCA, I will have some 'guidelines' to share with the industry and community, as I believe that these guidelines will be (in effect) interim laws, until we get something heard in the House of Commons with regards to the legality of Dolls.
It seems that unless you have some other legal infraction, then doll ownership is not the evil that the media would have people believe, and I keep hearing stories of cases being thrown out of court (although there have been prosecutions, I wonder if they were badly represented?)
So this is the story thus far, and there is more to come.
I am interested to hear the thoughts of the community, as this does affect us all.
You may have been aware, that on the 5th July 2018 we had a visit from the National Crime Agency (NCA) who deal with serious and organised crime in the UK.
We were informed that they wished me to voluntarily attend an interview with the officers at a local police station. Failure to comply could possible have resulted in an arrest.
So I attended the interview and answered their questions, where they informed me that a WM small breasted head #36 had been seized at UK customs (this doll order had been sent by UPS customs cleared via Hungary, so how UK customs were involved I do not know) and that they were investigating The-Doll-House. They then seized all IT technology save the main business laptop for investigation.
So many questions and answers later, I was advised that any doll of 140cm or under would be considered a child doll and so likely to be investigated etc etc. So we took down all dolls of this size (140cm) and under, from the website.
The NCA did let us know via our solicitors that they were going to use the action of the Crown vs Turner (Canterbury) against us - essentially this guy had a 100-110cm doll (with a head that was too small for the doll IMHO) and the media were all over this as it occurred. The media did not emphasise that this man had 34,000 indecent images of children on his computer, and I believe this was his actual crime, otherwise it is simply the importation of a deemed obscene object that is potentially criminal.
So four and a half months later, I receive word through the solicitor that no further action is to be taken against Me/The-Doll-House as there is not an acceptable likelihood that a prosecution would take place in court. Although technically I am on bail, and the charges can be re-raised at any time, which sounds like coercion to me. Especially as the NCA have requested a meeting with me to discuss The-Doll-House methods of business etc.
It should be noted (specially with regards to the Turner case) that the UK authorities are viewing possession of all small dolls as a high indication that you will be in possession of indecent material, and hence the electronic searches of The-Doll-House equipment, which has little to do with the importation of potentially obscene objects.
So I believe that after my meeting with the NCA, I will have some 'guidelines' to share with the industry and community, as I believe that these guidelines will be (in effect) interim laws, until we get something heard in the House of Commons with regards to the legality of Dolls.
It seems that unless you have some other legal infraction, then doll ownership is not the evil that the media would have people believe, and I keep hearing stories of cases being thrown out of court (although there have been prosecutions, I wonder if they were badly represented?)
So this is the story thus far, and there is more to come.
I am interested to hear the thoughts of the community, as this does affect us all.
