A court has struck out the prosecution of a young man stopped by US Homeland Security at Dublin Airport with alleged child sex abuse animation images while travelling to a United States comic book convention.
Finley Bowd (21), of Harbour View Close, Brixham, Devon, England, was arrested at Terminal 2 on August 20th, 2025.
He appeared at Dublin District Court the following day, where Det Gda Rebecca Doyle said he made no reply when charged with two offences under section 6.1 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
The shop cashier, who had been travelling to New York for a Comic Con event, was arrested and had his phone seized. He was accused of possessing category three child pornography anime images.
READ MORE
The court had noted the involvement of Homeland Security, the US federal agency.
He had not formally entered a plea and was remanded on bail of €400 to appear again on November 6th for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). However, they were not ready then, and the case was adjourned again until Thursday. Answering his bail, the accused had travelled back to Dublin for the hearing.
Judge Shalom Binchy noted the case was peremptory against the State for the DPP’s instructions on how the case was to proceed. However, they were still not available, and she acceded to defence barrister Paddy Flynn’s application for a strikeout.
At his first hearing on August 21st, Det Gda Doyle had agreed with Mr Flynn that his client was making his way to a flight to New York and there was a “random stop” at Terminal 2.
The detective also accepted Mr Bowd was co-operative.
Contact has been made with a family member, and gardaí made enquiries with the UK, establishing he has not come to police attention.
