MORE paedophiles walked free from court yesterday as fury grew over the sentencing of Huw Edwards.
They avoided prison like the disgraced ex-BBC newsreader, 63, despite downloading hundreds of child sex abuse images.
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Judges preferred suspended sentences or community orders instead of lengthy jail terms.
But today The Sun demands that ALL paedophiles caught with “Category A” child abuse images — the most serious type — should be sent to jail to keep our kids safe.
Last night there were calls for an urgent sentencing overhaul to reflect these “heinous crimes”.
On Monday, Edwards got a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, at Westminster magistrates court for possessing indecent images of children.
Despite widespread public outrage, the sentence cannot be upgraded for being “unduly lenient” as it came from a magistrate.
Dame Vera Baird, a former solicitor general and ex-victims’ commissioner, was among those calling for change.
She said: “It seems odd that there is a workable scheme for unduly lenient sentences in the crown court which the public can ask the Attorney General to consider.
“Yet there is nothing that could help a member of the public who was a victim of what could be a very serious assault or sexual abuse to make a formal application on a sentence in the magistrates’ court.”
Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat urged Attorney General Richard Hermer KC to formally reassess sentencing.
He fumed: “The country has been shocked by the criminal activities of Mr Edwards.
“I am sure that they will be looking to the Government to lead by example and ensure that heinous crimes are punished swiftly and appropriately.
“A reassessment would not only address public concern but also reinforce our commitment to protecting vulnerable individuals and upholding justice.”
The Sun yesterday revealed that startling numbers of online perverts have been spared jail in the past nine months.
RYAN COOK
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JAMES MIDDLETON
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We found 27 got a slap on the wrist — despite hoarding more than one million images of child abuse.
And the toll rose further yesterday, where married James Middleton, 76, of Selby, North Yorks, was among the latest to walk free.
He used search terms including “jailbait”, York magistrates court was told. Cops seized several of his devices in 2022, with three of the pics he downloaded in Category A.
District Judge Adrian Lower told him: “The court takes this kind of offending very seriously.”
But he chose not to send him to jail, instead imposing a two-year community order. He said Middleton would not have found jail “an easy experience”.
Ryan Cook, 18, was another to be spared jail yesterday. He walked free from Crewe magistrates court despite being found with 342 indecent images of kids, including 174 in Category A.
They were discovered when police raided his home in Stapeley, Cheshire, and seized five devices.
Magistrates slammed him for “playing the victim” and said his offending passed the custody threshold. But he got a 12-month term, suspended for two years.
Andrew Neyland, 50, was also given a second chance by the same court. He admitted downloading a Category A image while at “a low ebb”.
The country has been shocked by the criminal activities of Mr Edwards
Tom Tugendhat
Neyland, of Congleton, Cheshire, said he was “curious” about what others “found stimulating”.
He was given a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Meanwhile, married hotelier Stuart Pettifer, 57, admitted making and distributing indecent images of children, yet still walked free.
Pettifer, of Sandown in the Isle of Wight, used an Instagram account to search for “pre-teens” and “sweetie school girls”. Among the sickening images of kids, aged five to 14, were 14 from Category A.
STUART PETTIFER
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ANDREW NEYLAND
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KYLE SAND
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His Honour Judge Newton-Price handed down an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Isle of Wight crown court.
Kyle Zandi, 20, amassed a sickening 1,500 stills and clips of children as young as five being sexually abused.
Nearly 200 were in the most serious category.
Zandi, of Cricklewood, North West London, was told by Judge Karim Ezzat: “The children would have experienced trauma and that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
But he was given an 11-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, at Wood Green crown court.
Former Met Police officer George Patmore, 32, escaped punishment after claiming he had no idea how 24 images of child sex abuse ended up in his possession, including ten Category A images.
A jury at Southwark crown court cleared him of making an indecent image of a child. But he admitted possessing extreme pornography, including bestiality images.
The children would have experienced trauma and that will stay with them for the rest of their lives
Judge Karim Ezzat told Zandi
Patmore, of Edgware, North West London, got a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Macaulay Tennant, 28, of Grantham, Lincs, received a suspended sentence despite downloading 2,000 images of child sexual abuse.
A significant number were in the most serious category. Nevertheless, he was not sent to jail, instead getting eight months, suspended for two years, at Lincoln crown court.
Fletcher Savva-Brown, 20, also admitted making indecent images of children, including three moving and two still from Category A.
However Savva-Brown, of Stepney Green, East London, avoided prison and was sentenced instead to a three-year conditional discharge.
A judge described his offending as “a short-term thing”, and Savva-Brown appeared delighted as he left Stratford magistrates court.
- Additional reporting: Sarah Ridley and Andrew Robinson
FLETCHER SAVVA BROWN (6 IMAGES)
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MACAULAY TENNANT
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