Goldsmith resists 'political pressure' in child sex sentence row

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has said that he will not bow to political pressure in the row of a sentence handed down to a convicted child sex offender.

Craig Sweeney, 24, from Newport, Wales was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday after pleading guilty to the kidnap and sexual assault of a three-year-old girl in January. However, he will be eligible for parole in just five years.

The sentence was criticised by the victims' family and Home Secretary John described the sentence as "unduly lenient".

Earlier on Tuesday, a Home Office spokesperson said: "The Home Secretary is concerned that the tariff Craig Sweeney has been given does not reflect the seriousness of this crime." The spokesperson said that Mr Reid would be contacting the Attorney General to ask him to consider referring the sentence to the Court of Appeal.

However, a statement issued by the Attorney General's office said: "The attorney has called for the file in Craig Sweeney's case in order to consider whether to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.

"The attorney will make a decision based purely on the merits of the case and not in response to political or public pressure. Calling for the file in no way implies that there will be a reference by the attorney. Still less does it imply any criticism of the sentencing judge."

The row over Craig Sweeney's sentence comes after the Court of Appeal increased the minimum jail sentence given to Alan Webster, who pleaded guilty to raping a 12-week-old baby, after the case was referred to them by the Attorney General.

The Sentencing Guidelines Council is already conducting a review of the amount of discount sex offenders receive on their sentences if they plead guilty.

However, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "It is an act of rank hypocrisy for John Reid to blame judges for sentences which are a direct consequence of recent legislation introduced by this government.

"It is bad enough that John Reid gives himself the right to second guess a sentence within hours of it being passed, but it is also extremely cynical when he must know that the possible deductions in Mr Sweeney's custodial sentence results from legislation which only came into effect in April last year.

"The Liberal Democrats voted against these new early release provisions precisely because we predicted that they would lead to this kind of controversy.

"John Reid should have the honesty to admit that this government got it wrong, rather than blaming judges following the letter of the law."

(KMcA/SP)