Charles Napier’s Sentence Not Unduly Lenient.

In December Charles Napier was sentenced to 13 years for grooming and assaulting 21 victims. He’d pleaded guilty to 28 charges of indecent assault on children as young as eight years old.

That is only seven and a half months per boy he sexually assaulted or five and a half months for each sexual assault he pleaded guilty to.

Of course he’ll probably be out of prison in half the time, so divide those times by two.

Nevertheless, the Attorney General will not refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.

Dear ….

Thank you for your email to the Attorney General’s Office regarding the sentencing of Charles Napier.

The Law Officers have the power to refer sentences passed in certain Crown Court cases to the Court of Appeal for review, if they consider, having regard to relevant sentencing guidelines and previous decisions of the Court of Appeal in similar cases, that the sentence is ‘unduly lenient’.

The Court of Appeal will not increase a sentence unless they are satisfied that it is significantly below that which any judge could reasonably have set having regard to the sentencing guidelines and tariffs set by the courts in similar cases.

Decisions on whether or not to refer cases are taken only after very careful consideration of the facts and the circumstances of the case and the relevant sentencing law and guidelines.

Having carefully reviewed the papers, the Attorney General has concluded that if the sentence imposed on Charles Napier was referred to the Court of Appeal, the Court would not increase the sentences.  He has therefore decided not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.

Yours sincerely