Paedophile duped by police sentenced to immediate imprisonment after referral to the Court of Appeal
The offender had originally been handed down a suspended sentence but will now have to serve an immediate prison term.
A man who planned to sexually abuse a child has been sentenced to an immediate prison term after the case was referred to the Court of Appeal for being unduly lenient.
Paul Cartwright, 56, believed he had been messaging the child’s aunt ‘Liv’ over a four-week period in which he persistently and graphically discussed sexual abuse of 11-year-old ‘Demi’. He arranged to meet ‘Liv’ with a view to carrying out the abuse but was instead met by an undercover police officer.
On 15 September 2022, he was sentenced to a 24-month jail sentence suspended for 2 years, ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work, attend 35 rehabilitation days and abstain from alcohol for 3 months. Cartwright was also ordered to register as a sex offender and be subject to the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
Following the sentencing at St Alban’s Crown Court, it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme for being too low.
On 1 December 2022, the Court found Cartwright’s original sentence to be unduly lenient, and he was sentenced to an immediate prison term of 2 years and 6 months.
Speaking after the hearing, Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson MP said:
Thanks to police intervention no harm was caused to a child, but this tougher sentence is a better reflection of Cartwright’s clear intent to sexually abuse a child which will not be tolerated.