In 2018, the Offender Database recorded that Lee Pollard, then 26, of Saxmundham, Suffolk, and Marc Allen, then 26, of Torquay, Devon, were sent to prison after the Solicitor General appealed their “unduly lenient” sentences. On Thursday, 22 February 2018, the Court of Appeal quashed their suspended sentences and substituted them with immediate custodial terms. The court reported that the men had sexually abused two 14-year-old girls during a party in Dawlish, Devon.
The investigation established that the offences occurred while the victims were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Although the men denied knowing the girls were underage, the court heard that they had provided the teenagers with the substances. Following a trial at Exeter Crown Court in November 2017, they were originally handed 15-month suspended sentences. Devon and Cornwall Police reported that the decision sparked public outcry, specifically from one of the victims’ mothers, leading to a formal referral by Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP.
Judicial Findings and Investigative Detail
The court reported that there was “no excuse” for the behaviour of the two defendants. The Court of Appeal heard that Pollard and Allen had engaged the 14-year-olds in sexual activity despite the clear vulnerability of the children. While the original sentencing judge, Judge Graham Cottle, had suggested the activity was consensual, the Solicitor General argued that the age of the girls and their intoxicated state made the initial punishment inadequate.
The judge noted that the revised sentences were necessary to reflect the gravity of the exploitation in Dawlish, Devon. For his actions, Pollard was jailed for two years and nine months, while Allen received a sentence of three years and six months. The prosecution reported that the increased prison terms were intended to provide comfort to the families and uphold public confidence in the judicial system’s handling of child sex offences.
Sentence and Statutory Requirements
For their crimes in England, the defendants were handed:
- Lee Pollard: Two years and nine months in prison.
- Marc Allen: Three years and six months in prison.
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements were activated for life for both men.
- Judicial Oversight: Sentences quashed and increased by the Court of Appeal following an Exeter Crown Court trial.
Monitoring and Public Protection
Pollard and Allen are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) by Suffolk Constabulary, Devon and Cornwall Police, and the prison estate. Due to the nature of the abuse in Dawlish, Devon, their management is subject to oversight by the Public Protection Unit.
As members of the Sex Offenders Register, both men must comply with notification requirements regarding their residences in Saxmundham, Suffolk, and Torquay, Devon, for the rest of their lives. Authorities state that their history of providing drugs and alcohol to minors to facilitate sexual activity necessitates permanent and intense scrutiny of their associations. Any breach of their registration conditions or their licence terms upon release will result in immediate arrest and a return to the Court of Appeal.
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