Poker fan in trouble over bare-breasted pic

12/6/09 – Online poker fan Neil Moodie (38) made the court records this week when he escaped conviction on a technical point for publishing a bare-breasted photo of his former girlfriend on an online poker website personal profile.  The case serves as a reminder that the Internet can be a very public place.

Moodie's troubles started when his ex-girlfriend's current partner came across her topless image on a high-traffic online poker information and message board website. She claimed that her image was used without her consent and took the matter to the local police, the regional newspaper John O' Groats Journal reports. 
 
Moodie apparently admitted to police that he had posted the picture, Wick Sheriff Court heard this week. But because of a lack of corroboration, his trial collapsed and he was found not guilty of committing a breach of the peace.
 
During the case it transpired that Moodie and the woman had a son, and that their split three years ago had been acrimonious.
 
Asked about her reaction to seeing her topless image on the website, she said: "I was very alarmed. It was a photo of me that strangers could view. It was quite disturbing – I felt a bit disgraced."
 
Moodie's motive appeared to be rooted in a previous dispute, where he had placed a picture of himself with his son in his personal profile and had his access rights to the child restricted because he had posted his image on a gambling site.
 
"I just did it as I won't see my son any more," he said in an agreed statement.
 
Moodie's solicitor submitted that there was no case to answer because no corroborating evidence had been adduced to support Moodie's acknowledgement that he had posted the picture.
 
"The Crown would have needed to bring strong evidence that Neil Moodie was the only person who had access to the topless photo and the only person who could have put this picture on the website," the defence claimed.
 
Sheriff Margaret Neilson agreed and Moodie was acquitted.