Attorney General's Reference (No 8 of 2009) Christopher McCartney
In this judgment the Court of Appeal adopts the sentencing guidelines on indecent images issued by the English Court of Appeal in R v Oliver & Others [2002] EWCA Crim 2766.
AG’s Reference – 30 counts of making an indecent image of a child – sentenced to three years’ probation on each count to run concurrently with a condition to participate in a sex offenders programme – offending commenced when defendant was 15 - special circumstances advanced before the court that the defendant was corrupted as a child and his offending was the product of that corruption – court held rehabilitative sentence justified in this case – sentence not unduly lenient – appeal dismissed.
(The Court of Appeal in King v Andrew Maxwell [2023] NICA 21 has reaffirmed both these cases as the settled sentencing authorities in the area of indecent images of children.)