Former Radio 1 DJ Mark Page has jail time increased after child sex offences
Former Radio 1 DJ Mark Page has seen his prison term increased from 12 years to 18 by the Court of Appeal, after he was convicted of arranging sex with children
Ex DJ Mark Page has seen his jail term increased
An ex Radio 1 DJ who arranged to have sex with vulnerable children in the Philippines has had a jail term increased from 12 years to 18 years by Court of Appeal judges.
Mark Page was given a 12-year sentence by a judge at Teesside Crown Court in March after being convicted of arranging the commission of a child sex offence between 2016 and 2019.
Three appeal judges today concluded the 12-year sentence was unduly lenient, at a Court of Appeal hearing in London, after an application by Solicitor General Alex Chalk.
The former Middlesborough FC match announcer, 63, denied five counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence, but a jury at Teesside Crown Court found him guilty of four of those counts earlier this year.
Mark Page was convicted of child sex offences in March
Image:
( PA)
They found him innocent on one count, where it was alleged he intended for someone to expose their genitalia over webcam.
Sentencing in March, Judge Paul Watson QC, told Page he was involved in “grotesque sexual abuse of young children for your own sexual gratification” and he took advantage of the “poverty and depravation in an under-developed country in which children are routinely forced, through economic and social depravation into acts of prostitution.”
He went on: “Your sole purpose was to engage in children as young as 12 , in vile sexual activity to satisfy your perverted sexual appetites.”
Mark Page was originally sentenced at Teesside Crown Court
Image:
( Evening Gazette)
He added: “It did not matter to you that you were robbing them of the innocence of their childhoods, it did not matter to you what long-term trauma and emotional damage you were leading them to.”
One of the counts related to Page arranging to “engage in sexual activity” with a 13-year-old boy in exchange for payment. The judge said on this occasion he was “satisfied the intended sexual activity did take place.”
The fifth count related to Page arranging with a third party to “source” a 13-year-old child for sexual activity when he visited the Philippines. The judge said it was again “clear” that sex did take place.
The Court of Appeal in London, where Page’s sentencing was increased
Image:
( SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The divorced father-of-three committed the offences via a webcam linking his home to the Philippines and when he had travelled to that country, which he visited regularly for business reasons the court heard. The offences happened over a two to three year period.
At the start of the trial, Jo Kidd, prosecuting, told jurors: “He used charity and business as a cover to meet under-age people in order to meet them for sex.”
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