Man who abducted girl while dressed as a woman appeals against sentence
- Published
Miller was said to be transitioning from a man to a woman
A man who abducted a primary school girl while dressed as a woman and then sexually assaulted her in his Borders home is appealing against his sentence.
Andrew Miller was jailed for 20 years after subjecting the girl to a series of sexual assaults over 27 hours.
Judge Lord Arthurson said the crime was "frankly nauseating in its level of depravity and criminal deviance".
Lawyers for Miller, 53, also know as Amy George, believe the jail term is too long.
They have lodged documents with the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
Miller, who admitted the charges, was also previously told he would be supervised on licence for eight years in addition to his custodial sentence. He will also be on the sex offenders register for life.
Earlier this year, the the High Court in Edinburgh heard how he offered to give the girl a lift home in February.
Instead, he drove her to his own house, took her into a bedroom and refused to let her leave.
Miller identifies as transgender and is in the process of transitioning to female. He asked to be addressed in court as Andrew Miller using "he" pronouns for simplicity.
Miller claimed to have been helping the girl when he was arrested by police
Lord Arthurson said the abduction had been "brazen and chilling".
He told Miller, who formerly owned a butcher's shop in Melrose, he had "wicked and predatory" intentions when he dressed as a woman to entice the primary school pupil into his car.
The court heard how the victim's phone had run out of battery charge when Miller pulled up in his Jaguar and offered her a lift. The victim said she thought she was getting into "a lady's car".
The former butcher took her to his bungalow where he kept her confined in his bedroom for more than a day and subjected her to repeated attacks before she was able to call 999 while he slept.
The father-of-three, who lived alone, was still sleeping when officers arrived to arrest him. He was wearing a bra, silicone breasts, female underwear and tights.
'A game'
In May, Miller pleaded guilty to charges of abduction, sexual assault, watching pornography in the presence of the child under the age of 13 and possessing 242 indecent images of children.
During his risk assessment Miller referred to the abduction, which he carried out at 17:55 on 5 February, as a "game".
On Thursday, an official at the Court of Criminal Appeal confirmed that lawyers for Miller had lodged a note of appeal against his sentence.
The matter will call before a judge to see whether it can proceed before the appeal court sometime in the near future.
Miller is being held in a male prison in line with new guidelines for trans prisoners who commit sexual offences that were introduced following an outcry over the Isla Bryson case.
Bryson was initially placed in a female prison after being convicted of raping two women while she was known as a man called Adam Graham.
- Published18 October 2023
- Published18 May 2023
