Challenge to ex-school welfare officer's jail term fails

A legal challenge to the prison term imposed on a former school welfare officer and army cadet leader for sexually abusing teenage girls has failed.

Judges in the Court of Appeal rejected claims the sentencing of Neil Beckett was unduly lenient.

Beckett, 44, from Kilmore Village near Crossgar, was found guilty of sexual assault and inappropriate contact with nine teenage victims he targeted while holding a position of authority.

In December, he received a three year sentence at Belfast Crown Court, with 18 months to be served in prison and 18 months on licence.

The charges against him related to seven pupils at Lagan College School in south Belfast and two army cadets, spanning an eight-year period between 2015 and 2023.

Beckett denied all of the allegations while on trial for a total of 29 charges.

The abuse involved hugging, kissing and tickling pupils, as well as touching some of the girls under their skirts.

He was ultimately acquitted on a charge of rape, but found guilty of a series of sexual assaults.

Beckett mounted a legal challenge against conviction before eventually abandoning it.

In a separate move, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) referred the case to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to have the sentence declared unduly lenient.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan rejected all grounds of challenge.

"This was always a case of high culpability, that was accepted by the defence, and therefore the prosecution's argument that we should increase the sentence based on the (trial) judge's mischaracterisation of culpability is unsustainable," she said.

"The judge has faithfully applied the (sentencing) guidance."

Dame Siobhan said the victims had been "entirely vindicated" by Beckett's decision to abandon his appeal against conviction.

"No sentence can fully fix the impact of this offending on the lives of young girls," she added.

But speaking outside court, the father of one of Beckett's victims expressed disappointment at the outcome.

He said: "While the lady chief justice said that the girls were vindicated, it will not appear like that to them."