Case No 2024/01343/B4 - [2025] EWCA Crim 1370

The provisions of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 apply to these offences. Under those provisions, where a sexual offence has been committed against a person, no matter relating to that person shall during the person's lifetime be included in any publication if it is likely to lead members of the public to identify that person as the victim of the offence. This prohibition applies unless waived or lifted in accordance with section 3 of the Act. We will refer to the appellant by the letters FBD in order to avoid the risk of jigsaw identification.

On 7 December 2023, following a trial in the Crown Court at Portsmouth before His Honour Judge Melville KC and a jury, the appellant was convicted of ten offences of Indecent Assault on a Male Person, contrary to section 15(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 (counts 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 20, 21 and 22), and of two offences of Indecency with a Child, contrary to section 1(1) of the Indecency with Children Act 1960 (counts 3 and 7). He was acquitted on various other counts which we need not detail. On 22 March 2024, the appellant (then aged 52) was sentenced by the trial judge. On 4 April 2024 the case was relisted for the sentences on counts 4 and 21 to be amended under the slip rule. The overall sentence was a standard determinate sentence of 14 years' imprisonment and a consecutive Special Custodial Sentence for an offender of particular concern (pursuant to section 278 of the Sentencing Act 2020) of 18 years, comprising a custodial term of 16 years and a licence period of two years.

The offences were committed against the appellant's two stepsons, to whom we will refer as "C1" and "C2", and three of their friends, to whom we will refer as "C3", "C4" and "C5".

Counts 2, 3 and 4 related to offending against C1. They were all multiple offending counts involving no fewer than five incidents. Counts 7, 8, 9 and 10 related to offending against C2. These were single incident counts. Count 12, a single incident count, related to C3; and count 14, also a single incident count, to C4. Counts 20, 21 and 22 were multiple incident counts involving at least two occasions. They concerned the offending against C5.

The determinate sentence of 14 years comprised a sentence of seven years' imprisonment on count 9 and a consecutive term of seven years' imprisonment on count 14. Concurrent sentences of lower terms of imprisonment were passed on the other offences, save for counts 4 and 21. The judge imposed a Special Custodial Sentence of nine years, comprising a custodial term of eight years and a licence period of one year on count 4. This was consecutive to the sentences for counts 9 and 14. He imposed a further Special Custodial Sentence of nine years, comprising a custodial term of eight years and a licence period of one year on count 21, which was ordered to run consecutively to the sentences on counts 9, 14 and 4.

A Restraining Order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order were also made.

The appeal originally came before the full court on 27 June 2025. On that occasions the court allowed the appeal on ground 2 and quashed the Restraining Order. The same court allowed grounds 5 and 6 and so varied the terms of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Leave to appeal on ground 4 was refused, and ground 3 was not pursued. We are only concerned with ground 1, in relation to which the court gave leave to appeal and adjourned the hearing, with directions for the filing of skeleton arguments. We have been assisted by the helpful skeleton arguments and oral submissions on behalf of both the appellant and the respondent. Ground 1 contends that the sentence of 32 years was manifestly excessive.