Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, how many times the Unduly Lenient Sentencing scheme has been used as regards people convicted of offences related to the online sexual exploitation of children in each of the last five years; and on how many occasions that scheme has led to a longer sentence being imposed.

Online child sexual exploitation may involve the commission of different criminal offences: it is not reflected in a single offence or set of offences but instead is reflected in the facts of an offence. The facts of the offences of those cases referred by the Law Officers to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme suggest that in 2015, 6 cases were referred in which 5 sentences were increased; in 2016, 9 referred and 7 increased; in 2017, 15 referred and 11 increased; in 2018, 4 referred but none increased; in 2019, 3 referred and 1 increased.