Possession is not a crime that requires intent. It is also categorised as "making" (eg an image being displayed on a screen). If you, as an adult, sent an illegal image you would be prosecuted more harshly that the person who recieved it. The person who sent the image to me is legally a child- who cannot be tried as an an adult and is therefore immune to prosecuted (read the CPS guidance about how they will avoid prosecuting the sender if they are under 18 and will give them words of advice).
As I previously said, the image remained in the chat for less than 24 hours. I could not delete the image without wiping messages and/or the entire phone. At the time as I said i was not aware that the law considered a child to be under 18, as I believed that 16 was the age of sexual activity due to it being the age of sexual consent (eg you can physically take part in the act but not any images that are indicative).
I've begged, pleased, cried, with the police, they don't care- possession is possession in their eyes and as one of the officers said in my interview "even if you tried to be smart and find a way out, you will never pass a background check as we will disclose this to employers even if you manage to get out of conviction".
My energy is better spent at this point trying to limit damage, ensure that I can get some sort of job and maybe attain a PPL when I retire.
Does a PPL require a background check?