MP calls for tougher sentence for child abuser

Saqib Bhatti said he had written to the Attorney General over the sentence

An MP has called for a longer jail sentence for a teaching assistant who sexually abused children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Daniel Clarke, 28, of Bloxwich near Walsall, was jailed last week for seven years and six months after pleading guilty to sexual offences against six vulnerable children.

Saqib Bhatti, the Conservative MP for Meriden and Solihull East, said he had written to the Attorney General on Tuesday and asked for Clarke's sentence to be reviewed.

The Attorney General's Office has been approached for comment.

Bhatti's office said the MP was made aware of Clarke's case by constituents who had been directly affected.

During Clarke's trial, prosecuting barrister Daniel Oscroft said the defendant had worked as a teaching assistant at a school in Solihull and, separately, as a personal assistant to several children.

In a statement, Bhatti said he had been "horrified" to learn of Clarke's crimes, and his current jail sentence did not reflect their "heinous and serious nature".

The MP has asked for the sentence to be referred to the unduly lenient sentence scheme, which allows anyone to ask the Attorney General's Office to review a crown court sentence if they think it is too low.

After doing its review, the Attorney General's Office decides whether to send it on to the Court of Appeal, which can make a decision about the sentence. The scheme only applies to some crimes, such as murder and some child sex offences.

Speaking on behalf of police last week, Mr Oscroft said Clarke would almost certainly be charged with further offences and may have more than 81 victims.