By Lucy Caulkett-
Appeal judges have today quashed an “unduly lenient” 45 month jail sentence given to a paedophile who filmed himself raping a three-year-old boy while he was babysitting.
Big time paedo, Chris Hume, 29, videoed the sickening sexual assault on the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, using his mobile phone at a house in Glasgow on October 11 2016.
The pervert was jailed at the city’s high court in July 2017 after pleading guilty to charges of rape and making a video recording of the sexual assault.
Judge Lady Scott handed Hume a prison term of almost four years. She said she found the sentencing of Hume to be “particularly difficult”.
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In a written judgement issued at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, judges Lady Dorrian, Lord Brodie and Lord Turnbull decided to impose a six year sentence on Hume. Lord Brodie wrote that Lady Scott should have imposed a lengthier sentence on Hume.
He wrote that Lady Scott should have followed sentencing in similar cases when she was considering how to dispose of the case.
He wrote:
“The respondent pleaded guilty to two very serious offences. Other than the fact that he had no previous convictions, there is little if anything by way of mitigation in the respondent’s personal circumstances or his response to his offending as recorded in the background reports.
“Looking to the cumulative effect of these various factors we have concluded that the headline sentence selected by the sentencing judge was not only a lenient one but an unduly lenient one.
“In concluding that it was unduly lenient we have been practically influenced by the fact that the respondent recorded a moving image of his rape of the complainer.
“That this was to be regarded as a material aggravation (and therefore a factor pointing to a higher sentence than would have otherwise have been imposed simply for the rape) was enunciated in Attorney General’s Reference and reiterated in the subsequently published definitive guideline.
“That is a position we would endorse. We do not see it to be reflected in the sentencing judge’s disposal.”
SERIOUSNESS
The extension of Hume’s sentence is a positive step by the judge, reflecting the seriousness of paedophilia activity on under aged children, and the fact the first sentence given to Hume was ”unduly lenient’‘.
During proceedings held earlier this year, the court head how the boy’s father left the flat at about 2pm to pick up his wife and asked Hume to babysit.
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Weird Hume then took the opportunity to rape the boy, and whilst doing so, filmed the act using his mobile telephone.”
When the parents returned home, Hume was sitting on the couch and the boy was in his bedroom.
The child then entered the living room and accused Hume of sexually abusing him.
At this point, jurors were told that Hume became ”irate” and started to wave his arms, telling the boy: “Mate, you were the one that was being bad and pulling down your trousers.”He added: “I am not having this” and swore at the young child.
Hume then ran away leaving behind his two mobile phones and his jacket. The family contacted the police and Police Scotland’s cyber crime unit managed to extract footage from Hume’s phone
Hume was incredibly stupid to leave his mobile phone which was full of incriminating evidence of his paedophile behavior. It is unlikely that he deliberately wanted to get caught, but carelessness was very useful in helping police secure a conviction against him, one that will put him on the sex register for life. However, a number of judges seem to have gone soft on paedophiles, for some reason, often showing too much sympathy for them two year extended sentence will serve as a positive precedent that this kind of offence is not acceptable, and will always face the full force of the law.
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