Child abuser sentence referred to Court of Appeal

Daniel Clarke (pictured) was jailed in May for abusing six vulnerable young people

The sentence given to a teaching assistant who sexually abused children with special educational needs and disabilities has been referred to the Court of Appeal.

Daniel Clarke, 29, of Bloxwich near Walsall, was jailed in May for seven years and six months, after admitting sexual offences against six vulnerable children.

The Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby KC MP, said she could only properly refer a case to the Court of Appeal if she considered the sentence appeared unduly lenient and "it appears to me that this test is met".

Conservative MP for Meriden and Solihull East Saqib Bhatti has said he had written to the attorney general and asked for Clarke's sentence to be reviewed.

Clarke may have targeted "well over 81" vulnerable young people over a decade, according to detectives overseeing a West Midlands Police investigation.

During his 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.

Bhatti said he would like to thank parents of victims for contacting him.

The unduly lenient sentence scheme allows anyone to ask for certain crown court sentences to be reviewed by the Attorney General's Office if they think the sentence is too lenient.

In a letter to the MP, the solicitor general, who said she was responding on the attorney's behalf, stated she shared Bhatti's concerns about the sentence imposed.

She added: "I can only properly refer a case to the Court of Appeal if I consider that the sentence appears not just lenient, but unduly lenient.

"After careful consideration, I have decided to refer this case to the Court of Appeal as it appears to me that this test is met."

Rigby added the court would decide in due course whether the sentence was unduly lenient "and, if so, whether to substitute the existing sentence with a new one".