Paedophile ex-St Helens mayor wins name change sentence appeal

Beirne had his sentence reduced by four months at the Court of Appeal

A former mayor convicted of abusing young boys who was jailed after changing his name to stand in local elections has had his sentence cut.

Former St Helens mayor John Beirne was jailed for 16 months in July by Judge Timothy Stead at Bolton Crown Court.

At the Court of Appeal, his lawyers argued that was too long as Beirne was a teen when the sex offences happened.

Ruling in his favour, Mr Justice Spencer and Judge Martin Edmunds cut the term to 12 months.

Beirne was given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Liverpool Crown Court in June 2017 after admitting sex offences, dating back more than four decades, against boys aged between eight and 12, judges heard.

The conviction barred him from standing as a councillor, but in March 2019, he requested his name on the electoral roll be changed to John Blondel.

Later that month, he applied to run for election as an independent on Wigan Council and signed as John Blondel to confirm that he was not disqualified.

He admitted attempting to stand as a candidate when disqualified and changing his name without notifying authorities.

Judge Stead imposed an eight-month term for those offences and activated eight months of his suspended sentence.

However, the appeal judges ruled only four months of the suspended sentence should have been activated - and the total sentence should be 12 months.