Suspended sentence for man who sexually attacked 14-year-old rejected for review

The 12-month suspended sentence for Michael Wilson was among 56 submitted to the Unduly Lenient Sentences Scheme and rejected by the Attorney General for review from 2020 to 2022.

Hull West and Hessle Labour MP Emma Hardy said the rejection of every submission was a betrayal of victims and families and claimed it showed the Conservatives were “soft on crime”.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Victoria Prentis said every sentenced referred to the Scheme was considered very carefully, with reviews done in exceptional circumstances.

Attorney General Office figures showed 27 of the 56 sentences referred from Hull Crown Court from 2020 to 2022 were considered eligible.

But every bid to submit them to the Court of Appeal for review was rejected, compared to one fifth of those referred to the scheme nationally.

The Scheme was set up in 1989 to allow victims of crime, their families and others to challenges sentences they felt were too lenient.

The suspended prison sentence passed in Hull Crown Court to Wilson in March 2020 was for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old near Headlands School in Bridlington.

Others among the 27 eligible sentences referred from Hull included a 20-month suspended sentence for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity passed in February 2020.

The court passed a two-year suspended sentence in October 2020 following a conviction for possession with the intent to supply class A drugs.

A conviction for possession with the intent to supply class B drugs resulted in a 12-month community order in August 2021.

The court passed a 19-month suspended sentence for an attempted sexual assault the following month.

January 2022 saw a two-year suspended sentenced handed down for stalking which caused serious alarm or distress.

A conviction for assisting an offender resulted in a 12-month suspended sentence in April last year.

Ms Hardy said the sentences were another example of the Government letting Hull people down.

The MP said: “Victims and their families have been burdened with a Conservative government that is soft on crime and soft on criminals.

“Hull deserves so much better, only a Labour government will do what is needed to protect our communities.”

Shadow Justice Secretary Emily Thornberry said Hull victims and families had seen their last hopes for justice rejected.

The shadow minister said: “That shows a total contempt for the people of Hull, and represents a shameful betrayal of the many victims and families from this city, who already felt let down by the courts, and will now rightly feel let down by government ministers as well.”

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said the bar for sentences to be referred to the Court of Appeal is extremely high.

The exceptional circumstances that would lead to referrals include judges making gross errors or imposing sentences outside those reasonably available to them in the circumstances.

The spokesperson said: “Every eligible sentence referred to the Attorney General’s Office under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme is considered very carefully.”