Last week, two stories were in the news involving images on the internet.

Firstly, there was the story of the 14-year-old boy who will have it on his record for sending a photograph of himself, naked, to a girl at school. Secondly, there is the woman who became the first female prosecuted for posting intimate images on Facebook.

Both instances highlight the need to take care in using social media and to think about the consequences of our actions. It is all too easy to press send or post in the heat of the moment!

In the first case, the 14-year-old was not arrested or charged with any offence, and yet simply the fact that he was investigated for the offence of making and distributing an indecent image means that his name and details of the investigation will be held for 10 years on the police database. It could be disclosed to future employers. The Criminal Bar Association has highlighted the case as cause for concern.

It is understood that the schoolboy took the photograph of himself using “Snapchat” – an app which deletes direct messages within 10 seconds, and sent it to a girl from school.

She then took a screenshot of the image and sent it on to other pupils at the school.

The matter was brought to the attention of the school who notified the police, and was therefore automatically recorded as a crime.

It is understood that the boy’s details, those of the girl who forwarded the image and another teenager, have been added to the police intelligence database and could be stored for at least 10 years.

If any of these teenagers need DBS checks in future for any purpose, the investigation could be flagged up.

In the other incident, the first woman to be prosecuted for the offence of disclosing private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress to another woman under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, has been sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months, and ordered to attend a rehabilitation activity for 50 days and to pay costs. She was charged with other related offences including assault, but she was prosecuted for posting photos on Facebook of an explicit nature, adding humiliating comments.

This case highlights the area of revenge porn that I wrote about a few weeks ago.

Both cases bring into sharp focus that this is not just theoretical, but is something that we as parents, teachers, professionals and as a community, need to be more vigilant about.

And finally….

A plea. On September 5 there was a major fire at our Oxford office premises.

The fire caused significant damage to the building but thankfully, no client records or documents were lost. The building cannot be used as a working office until repaired and cleaned and this is likely to take a few months. In the meantime we will move to alternative accommodation.

There will inevitably be some disruption but we will try to keep this to a minimum. The best way to communicate with us if you are a client is by email and keep an eye on our website and Facebook and Twitter feeds. Our calls are being diverted. However, please do not come to our offices, as we are unable to see people there for the time being.