On the basis of their violent sadomasochistic actions, the men were convicted for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In R v Brown, the House of Lords upheld their judgement, finding that consent was not a defence to their actions in these circumstances.
The applicants believed that a violation of Article 8 had not occurred because the activities were consensual, conducted in a private setting, and none of the participants required medical attention.
The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that no violation of Article 8 occurred because the amount of physical or psychological harm that the law allows between any two people, even consenting adults, is to be determined by the State the individuals live in, as it is the State's responsibility to balance the concerns of public health and well-being with the amount of control a State should be allowed to exercise over its citizens.
More specifically, the Court ruled that the reasons that the police gave for confiscating the tapes were valid, and that the action was justified granted the number of charges that were brought against the applicants.