Cumbria paedophile caught in sting has sentence increased

A paedophile snared in a police string as he plotted the abuse of two children has had his prison sentence extended.

Alan Nicholson, 53, from High Harrington, thought he was in an online conversation with a mum of two but was talking to an undercover officer.

He was convicted of attempting to arrange a child sex offence and jailed for three years in December.

The Court of Appeal found the sentence to be unduly lenient and upped it to five years and nine months.

Welcoming the longer sentence, Det Sgt James Bailey of Cumbria Constabulary said: "We will not tolerate those carrying out such crimes and will continue to do what we can to target those offending in this way and bring them to justice."

In September 2021, Nicholson had conversations online with a woman called Louise, which concerned serious acts of sexual abuse that he intended to carry out on her fictional daughters - a five-year-old and a baby of four months.

But Louise was an undercover police officer from Cumbria Constabulary's cyber and digital crime unit.

Nicholson, who was also placed on the sex offenders register and given a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years, will now serve almost double his original sentence.

Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson KC MP said: "Alan Nicholson believed he was successfully arranging to carry out vile acts on very young children. Thankfully the person he was talking to was an undercover police officer, whose diligent and commendable work led to his imprisonment.

"A longer prison sentence for this despicable crime shows such behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated."

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