Aug 2011

Torture-obsessed paedophile who kept ‘how to kidnap young girls scrapbook’ has sentence slashed to just THREE YEARS

A pervert with an ‘uncontrollable obsession with child pornography and torture’ has had his sentence slashed by the Court of Appeal.

Anthony Martin Milsom, 62, had newspaper cuttings relating to high-profile child murder inquiries including Milly Dowler, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, Sophie Hook and missing Madeleine McCann.

Police found an exercise book entitled ‘how to kidnap young girls’.

Milsom had been given an indeterminate sentence by Mold Crown Court in March this year after pleading guilty to a catalogue of sexual offences.

An indeterminate sentence meant he could only be released when the parole board was satisfied he was no longer a danger to the public.

But after an appeal by his solicitor Geraint Jones, Milsom’s sentence has now been reduced to three and a half years, less 155 days spent on remand.

Mr Justice Simon, sitting at the Court of Appeal with Lord Justice Moses and Judge Francis Gilbert, overturned the original sentence.

Mr Jones said: ‘We accept that they were sad and unpleasant offences. Justice demands fairness in sentence and I formed the view that the sentence was unfair in that it was excessive, that there was an element of knee jerk reaction on the part of the public and the court.

‘I do not minimise the offences, they were unpleasant, but it’s an issue of fairness.’

He said Milsom, of Newtown, Powys, north Wales, was guilty of grave offences and it was right to describe many of the images he collected as ‘sickening’.

Judge Francis Gilbert, left, and Lord Justice Moses, right, sat with Mr Justice Simon at the Court of Appeal to overturn the original sentence

But he said it did not justify an open-ended sentence from which he might never be released.

Substituting a total sentence of three and a half years, he said: ‘This reflects the overall criminality in respect of which he pleaded guilty.’

Milsom was originally convicted of 16 counts of possession of indecent photographs of a child dating back as far as 1991, 21 counts of making indecent photos of a child, five counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14, and five counts of possession of prohibited images of a child.

Anthony Milsom had newspaper cuttings relating to high-profile child murder inquiries including Milly Dowler, left, and missing child Madeleine McCann, right

Speaking during his initial sentencing Judge Niclas Parry said the ‘facts of this case would chill the blood of the parent of any young child’.

The court was told Milsom had a fascination with the murder, abduction and the rape of young female children, and that police had found a book written and illustrated by Milsom called ‘How to kidnap young girls’.

A bag was found at his property containing newspaper cuttings of high profile abduction cases including Milly Dowler, Holly and Jessica Wells, and Madeleine McCann.

Scales of justice: Mr Justice Simon, sitting at the Court of Appeal with Lord Justice Moses and Judge Francis Gilbert, overturned the original sentence

A child mannequin was also found wearing children’s underwear tied up with a skipping rope hanging from the ceiling of his home.

Videos showed Milsom whipping and kicking it to the recorded sounds of a child screaming.

Police found more than 5,100 indecent drawings, more than 200 photographs, 127,700 still images, together with 500 films and 188 home-made videos at his home.

Camcorder and VHS recordings of children at play parks, beaches and from his address were also found.