'Lenient' sex attack sentences changed

Jeffrey Carney: Admitted sex offences

Eight paedophiles have been given tougher sentences after original punishments were described as "too lenient".

Three of the sex attackers, who had previously been freed on probation, were handed jail sentences.

Among them was former headmaster Jeffrey Carney, 66, who had been given only a community rehabilitation order after admitting he abused two boys.

But the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, asked for the Court of Appeal to reconsider the case - along with 11 others involving sex offences - because he thought Carney deserved a harsher penalty.

The three judges announced that in all but one of the twelve cases before them they had reached the conclusion that the sentences were unduly lenient.

We are satisfied that the impact of this sentence upon the offender will be so severe that...the sentence in itself will be sufficient to safeguard other young boys in the future Lord Justice Kay

Carney, of Pamber Heath, Tadley, Hampshire, had been given a three-year community rehabilitation order by a judge at Reading Crown Court in June for three offences of indecent assault.

Lord Justice Kay sentenced Carney, a former headmaster at St Sebastian's School in Wokingham, Berkshire, to concurrent sentences of 15 months for each of the indecent assaults upon the first victim and one of six months for the assault on the second victim.

He also ruled that a licence provision was not needed, adding: "We are satisfied that the impact of this sentence upon the offender will be so severe that having regard to his age the sentence in itself will be sufficient to safeguard other young boys in the future."

Abuse admitted

Carney, whose first victim was an altar boy, was said to have shown great remorse for what he had done.

He had pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault relating to his first victim - one offence in 1976 when the boy was aged 11 or 12 and a second offence in 1980 when the boy was 15 or 16.

He admitted a third offence involving a second boy, committed in the late 1990s when that victim was 15 or 16.

Neither boy was a pupil - the offences were committed against boys whose families he had befriended.

The judge ordered that Carney surrender to Basingstoke police station on Friday.

In another case where the judges imposed a fresh prison sentence, they jailed an 82-year-old former church minister for 12 months for sexually abusing two boys more than 25 years ago.

They quashed a sentence of two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, imposed on Emyr Evans by a judge at Reading Crown Court in July after he pleaded guilty to a total of five counts of indecent assault.

I know for a fact what these victims have gone through in this particular case because of the lack of justice at the time Marilyn Hawes, justice campaigner

Evans, formerly a minister at a church in Buckinghamshire, was ordered to surrender to custody at Cheltenham police station at noon tomorrow.

Lord Justice Kay said the trial judge had been "over merciful" in concluding that the sentence could properly be suspended.

In the eleven cases the judges found to be unduly lenient, they imposed custodial sentences in three and increased the period of custody in a further six.

In the two other unduly lenient cases they added elements to the sentences, without altering in one case the decision not to impose a custodial sentence or in the other the period in custody imposed.

The one case in the twelve the judges decided was not unduly lenient involved a 61-year-old man jailed for six years after being convicted of five sex offences against a child.

Marilyn Hawes, who launched a campaign to get Carney jailed, said outside the court that she was delighted the sentence had been overturned.

'Zero tolerance'

Mother-of-four Mrs Hawes, who was a one-time friend and teaching colleague of Carney, said sentencing laws in abuse cases needed to be changed.

She said: "I urge people to keep up this campaign until the sentencing laws are changed. In my view there should be zero tolerance.

"I know for a fact what these victims have gone through in this particular case because of the lack of justice at the time. They have suffered because of what happened.

"Today they have a sense of justice and can begin to get on with the rest of their lives."

Thames Valley Police has issued a statement welcoming the sentencing of Carney who has been ordered to remain on the Sex Offender's Register for 10 years.

Detective constable Claire Belk, of the Reading with Wokingham Child Protection and Sexual Crimes Unit, who led the investigation said: "I have spoken to the victims today and they are pleased that a prison sentence has been imposed.

"They believe it is a more accurate reflection of the severity of the offences."

She added: "However, both remain concerned that Carney is forced to address and change his behaviour to ensure no one else goes through the ordeal they have."

Carney is now in police custody after being arrested by Hampshire Constabulary officers at his home at 1800 BST.

He will be taken to prison on Friday.