Sarah Sands' sons: 'If you are being abused, try and talk'

In 2014 Sarah Sands stabbed a convicted paedophile, Michael Pleasted, to death. For the first time, her three sons tell BBC News how they were each abused by him and and how their mother’s actions left them feeling.

Sarah Sands was convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder, on the grounds she had lost control. She was jailed for three and a half years. It was later increased to seven and a half years because the sentence was found to be too lenient. Court of Appeal judges said she had done nothing to help Pleasted and had not called the emergency services.

She spent nearly four years in prison.

During the court case it emerged that Pleasted had changed his name from Robin Moult and he was a convicted paedophile.

Sarah Sands has now joined others who are campaigning for tighter restrictions on sex offenders who change their names.

A Home Office spokesperson said it had already conducted a review of the issue, but it could not publish it because it contains sensitive information, which could potentially be used by offenders to exploit the system.

It said the UK had some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders living in the community.

If you've been affected by issues raised in this video, there is information and support available on BBC Action Line

23 November 2022