PRESS RELEASE : Increased prison sentence for Lee Wilson [March 2023]
The press release issued by the Attorney General’s Office on 7 March 2023.
A paedophile who sexually assaulted 2 children under the age of 13 will spend an additional 4 years in prison following a challenge to his original sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, meaning he will now serve 15 years’ imprisonment plus 12 months’ extended licence.
Lee Wilson, 40, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, was sentenced on 18 November 2022 for a total of seven counts of sexual offences against children. These included 3 counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, sexual assault of a child under 13 and making indecent photographs of a child.
At the original sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court, Wilson was ordered to serve 11 years’ imprisonment plus 12 months’ extended licence.
His sentence was then referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General, Michael Tomlinson KC MP, who felt that the sentence handed down to Wilson was unduly lenient.
Following today’s hearing at the Court of Appeal, the Solicitor General said:
The increased sentence handed down to Lee Wilson today shows that sexual crimes against children will always be met with the strongest possible punishment under the law. These were abhorrent crimes, and I welcome the decision of the Court to order Wilson to serve a sentence which better reflects his offending.
