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| Atheist convicted over cartoons | Atheist convicted over cartoons |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A 59-year-old atheist who left anti-religious images in Liverpool Airport's prayer room has been found guilty of intending to cause distress. | A 59-year-old atheist who left anti-religious images in Liverpool Airport's prayer room has been found guilty of intending to cause distress. |
| Harry Taylor, of Griffen Street, Salford, was convicted of three charges of religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. | Harry Taylor, of Griffen Street, Salford, was convicted of three charges of religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. |
| The images included cartoons of important religious figures in sexual poses, Liverpool Crown Court heard. | The images included cartoons of important religious figures in sexual poses, Liverpool Crown Court heard. |
| Taylor, who has been released on bail, will be sentenced on 23 April. | Taylor, who has been released on bail, will be sentenced on 23 April. |
| A chaplain at the airport, who was "severely distressed" by the discoveries in November and December 2008, immediately reported the images to the police, prosecutors said. | |
| Taylor admitted leaving the images but said he was simply challenging the views of others. | |
| This is a disgraceful verdict, but an inevitable one under this pernicious law Terry Sanderson, The National Secular Society | |
| The National Secular Society has leapt to his defence saying the prosecution has brought blasphemy laws "in through the back door". | |
| Terry Sanderson, president of the society, said: "This is a disgraceful verdict, but an inevitable one under this pernicious law. | |
| "It seems incredible in the 21st Century that you might be sent to prison because someone is 'offended' by your views on their religion. | |
| "The blasphemy law was abolished three years ago, but it lives on under the guise of religiously aggravated offences and is several times more dangerous." | |
| The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it treated each case on an individual basis. | |
| A spokeswoman said: "All we can do is to look at each on its merits. | |
| "We had a realistic chance of conviction, which was obviously seen in what happened in court." |