A child abuser jailed for sex offences against two boys will remain in prison for 11 years, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
William Alfred Duggan, 35, was originally sentenced last year after a jury found him guilty of 14 historical offences.
The appeals court agreed that the sentencing Deemster had not fully considered Duggan’s young age when the offences began, he was a child himself when the 13 years of abuse began.
Judge of Appeal Anthony Cross and Acting Deemster Gough said that sentencing this particular abuser had been a “difficult sentencing exercise” for the trial Deemster.
They also agreed that he had “made a distinction between the adult offending and the child offending, it amounted to a difference of just two years”.
However, they added: “We have little doubt though that the Deemster was looking to the overall sentence but, having already indicated that he had read Ahmed and was conscious of the Guideline, he should have applied them to the sentencing exercise and made it perfectly plain how he did so.”
Despite this, they also agreed that it was “unnecessary to do more than adjust the sentences to reflect, as best we can at this stage, the youth of the Appellant at the relevant times”.
As a result, Duggan was again sentenced to a total of 11 year’s custody.
You can read the full judgment here.
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