Only one in five child sex abuse cases considered “unduly lenient” were referred to the Court of Appeal last year, Labour analysis reveals tonight.
Figures show just over 81% of cases involving sexual activity with a child were rejected for review under the Unduly Lenient Sentences scheme last year.
The stats are even higher for cases which involve making or distributing an indecent images of children, as 85% of those have been rejected for review.
Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry called on her counterpart Suella Bravermen to treat all sexual offences involving children “with the seriousness they deserve”.
The couple who killed schoolboy Arthur Labinjo-Hughes are having their sentences reviewed after claims it was “too lenient”, the Government confirmed.
Boris Johnson said he would leave "no stone unturned" to find out what went wrong with little Arthur's case.
Under the Unduly Lenient Sentences Scheme, which has been in operation since 1989, the Attorney General’s office, currently Suella Braverman, has 28 days from the date of sentence to review a case.
It also needs to decide whether to refer it to the Court of Appeal within this timeframe.
The Court of Appeal will then make a ruling on cases which have been referred.
Last year 24.17% of the eligible cases were submitted to the scheme as they were deemed “too lenient".
But all seven cases of assault against emergency workers last year which were submitted to Ms Braverman were also deemed ineligible for review.
Ms Thornberry added: “It’s a serious cause for concern that, while more cases are being submitted by the public every year to the Unduly Lenient Sentences Scheme, the proportion being referred to the Court of Appeal remains so low.
“People in our communities are clearly demanding a tougher response to crime, but the government either doesn’t want to listen or doesn’t want to act.
“The government has been promising for years to look at the rules around eligibility for the scheme, but we are still seeing far too many cases where individuals are escaping with lenient sentences just because their crimes aren’t eligible for review, including all 19 cases in the past two years involving the assault of emergency workers.
"That must not continue.”
The Attorney General, the Rt Hon Suella Braverman QC MP said: "In the vast majority of cases, judges get sentencing right, but the ULS scheme remains an important tool to ensure that sentences can be challenged when they don't appear to fit the crime.
"We cannot simply refer cases to make up numbers. That shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the scheme, and an affront to our independent and well-respected judiciary, and to the Law Officers role of acting in the public interest.
"What is important is not the number of referrals, but the number of successful referrals. Last year, judges agreed with the Law Officers (the Attorney and Solicitor General) in 80% of sentences which they appealed for being too low, which shows we are challenging the right cases."
Little Arthur's case shocked the nation as he was found to have had 130 injuries.
A horrific video played to jurors showed Arthur just before he died struggling to pick up his pillow and blanket because he was so weak and crying out that nobody loved him.
A serious case review is under way over his death after social workers visited the house in the months before he died and found no cause for concern.
