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| Paedophile who walked free gets jail term after appeal | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A paedophile who walked free after his victim was described as "predatory" has been handed a jail sentence after a review by the Court of Appeal. | |
| Neil Wilson had been given a 12-month suspended sentence after he admitted sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl and making indecent images. | |
| Appeal judges ruled the non-custodial punishment was "unduly lenient". | |
| Wilson, 40, was not in court but was ordered to surrender to police in York for an immediate two-year jail term. | |
| A row broke out shortly after the original case was heard at London's Snaresbrook Court when it emerged that prosecuting barrister Robert Colover had labelled the young girl "predatory" and "sexually experienced". | |
| Mr Colover was suspended from handling sexual offence cases as a result of his comments. | |
| The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) described the language as "inappropriate" and later announced that Mr Colover had agreed to resign from from the CPS panel of advocates and will no longer undertake prosecutions involving serious sexual offences or child abuse. | |
| A number of complaints about remarks made during sentencing by Judge Nigel Peters, who said he was taking into account how the girl looked and behaved, are being "considered" by the Judicial Conduct and Investigations Office. | |
| Attorney General Dominic Grieve referred the original sentence to the Court of Appeal. | |
| The Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas and two other judges quashed the suspended sentence and ordered Wilson, formerly of Romford in Essex and now living in York, to surrender to police before 18:00 BST. | |
| Speaking after the hearing, the Attorney General said: "Neil Wilson exploited a young and vulnerable girl. He pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child, making indecent photographs of a child and possessing extreme pornography. | |
| "I asked the Court of Appeal to examine whether the sentence was appropriate, given the seriousness of the offences, and I am pleased that they have found that this sentence was unduly lenient and have imposed an immediate sentence of imprisonment." |