UK guy claimed he didn't remember phone PIN - got 6 months anyway

[Jim Burton]

Could have been a percentage game, because what was in the phone was worse than 6 months. But I do wonder, if his phone (like most) asks for the pin when it reboots or is shut down, was he deemed credible claiming that he ran his phone fully charged and without restarting it for however many months?

https://www.removepaywall.com/search?ur ... -police%2F

A suspect charged with a serious child sex offence denied investigators access to potential evidence by refusing to give them the PIN to his mobile phone.

Charlie May, 22, was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of rape of a child and had his iPhone seized by police officers.

After taking advice from a solicitor, May refused to provide the PIN and the investigation into the alleged child sex offence was dropped, Chelmsford Crown Court, sitting at Colchester Magistrates’ Court, heard.

May was given a six-month suspended sentence after he admitted one charge of failing to disclose the key to protected information, having argued he did not know the PIN because he only unlocked the phone using facial recognition.

[Bookshelf]

I doubt he actually forgot, but it does set an interesting precedent. Someone that genuinely forgot a pin or password to a device could be charged.

Imagine police knock on your door because they suspect you have CSAM. They check your phone, your laptop... nothing. Though they found an old phone in a wardrobe that you haven't touched in at least 2 years. They ask for the password. You don't remember it. Conviction.