Britain: Paedophile 'being a danger isn't an offence'

A judge has been accused of putting children at risk for refusing to jail a predatory paedophile because "being a danger isn't an offence". Anthony Davies, 19, broke a Sexual Offences Prevention Order — imposed when he was caught with 1,200 indecent images of children — after he persuaded four children, aged 11 and 12, to go with him on a fishing trip without their parents' knowledge. Sentencing, Judge Francis Gilbert QC, who had the power to jail him for five years for breaching the order, ruled that it would be better for Davies to get help rather than go to prison, despite warnings from experts.

It is the second time this year that the judge has courted controversy with lenient sentencing. In April, he refused to jail four women who forced two sobbing toddlers to fight so they could video them.

An MP warned that Judge Gilbert's latest ruling was "putting children at risk". Dan Norris, Labour MP for Wansdyke and a prominent child welfare campaigner, said: "The public should be outraged and dismayed that a man with these convictions is sentenced with this upside down thinking. "The purpose of the courts is to protect the public. The judge's logic is completely outrageous —he is taking a chance and children are being put at risk."

In March, Davies, from Plymouth, admitted possessing 1,200 indecent images of children, including some in the most serious category five, featuring toddlers as young as two. He was jailed for 18 months but freed immediately because he had already spent half the sentence on remand. At the same time, a charge that he abducted a five-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl was dropped while a charge that he indecently assaulted the girl was allowed to remain on file by the Crown.

On his release Davies was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning contact with children. Within a month he breached it, persuading four children to go on a fishing trip, which landed him back in court. As well as being jailed for breaking the order, he could also have been ordered to serve the outstanding nine months of his previous sentence. The court heard that Davies groomed young children on a self-made internet forum he created in 2004, where he encouraged youngsters to talk about their sex lives.

Several experts' reports described him as being a danger to children, but Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Plymouth Crown Court: "Being a danger isn't an offence, and I have to sentence him for what he has done, not what he may do. "When he breached his SOPO by taking young children fishing, there is no allegation that he attempted to commit an offence against them."

Davies was remanded in custody for his own safety at his mother's request, but is expected to be freed at a hearing in two weeks time. Judge Gilbert adjourned the case for treatment to be arranged and said he hoped to impose a suspended sentence or community order. Michelle Collins, 24, who has two children and lives next door to Davies, said: "I am horrified at the judge's comments and decision. He is a danger and I don't want him anywhere near my children."

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