Man who abducted girl while dressed as woman fails in bid to cut sentence
- Published
A man who abducted a primary school girl while dressed as a woman has had a bid to cut his sentence refused.
Andrew Miller was jailed last year for 20 years after subjecting the girl to a series of sexual assaults.
Lawyers for Miller, 54, also known as Amy George, claimed that sentence was "excessive" and put "too much weight" on his transgender identity.
Appeal judges considered those claims and his early guilty plea but concluded his jail term should not be reduced.
Miller was sentenced in October for the offences committed in the Scottish Borders in February 2023.
He admitted 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.
He was given an extended sentence comprising 20 years in jail and a further eight on licence under supervision in the community.
Lord Arthurson said the crime was "frankly nauseating in its level of depravity and criminal deviance" and the abduction had been "brazen and chilling".
Advocate Victoria Dow, representing Miller, argued that too much importance had been given to his dressing as a woman at the time of the abduction.
She said he had a "transgender" identity and had lived and presented as a woman for "many years".
In a written judgement, Lord Carloway concluded that the sentence issued had been appropriate.
However, he found that the female clothing worn by Miller had not been a "significantly aggravating factor".
"By the time of the incident, the appellant was already dressing as a woman as a matter of routine, rather than for any more sinister a reason," he said.
The court was previously told that Miller identifies as transgender and was in the process of transitioning to female.
At the time of his arrest, he was presenting as Amy George but confirmed he wished to be addressed as Andrew Miller using "he" pronouns for simplicity.
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