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Man's Prosecution For Possessing Alleged Illegal "Anime" Sex Images Is Struck Out
posted on by Andrew Osmond
Finley Bowd from Devon, England, was arrested at Dublin Airport on August 20 2025. He had been making his way to a flight to New York, where he was going to attend a comic event. He was subject to a random stop at Terminal 2, which is when he was arrested and his phone was seized. He was charged with two offences under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998, to which he did not reply.
According to the contemporary report by Ireland's broadcaster RTE, the random stop was made by the US agency Homeland Security.
The day after his arrest, Bowd appeared at Dublin District Court where was remanded on bail for 400 Euros.
He was due to appear at court again on November 6 2005 for directions from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). However, the DPP's directions were not ready at that time, and the court appearance was delayed. When Bowd returned to court in January 2026, the judge noted that the DPP had still not provided instructions. The judge acceded to the defence barrister's application for Bowd's prosecution to be struck out.
Bowd had not come to police attention previously. In the August 2026 hearing, he was described as being co-operative when he was stopped at Dublin Airport.
