JUDGE BLASTED FOR LETTING PAEDO WALK FREE A PERVERT who sexually assaulted two young girls on an allotment, telling them he was brushing spiders off them, has walked free from court – because jailing him was ‘unfair’ on his family. The victim’s family have blasted Judge Mark Lucraft for being ‘too lenient’ and ‘living in cuckoo land’ for handing Gary Karn a suspended sentence. The 48-year-old from Norwich was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against a child under 13 following a three day trial, in which the seven and eight-year-olds had to give evidence. Karn inappropriately touched the girls as they picked raspberries from bushes at his allotment last September. He told them he was brushing spiders off them but was found out after one of the girl’s told their mother that he had put his hands down their trousers and up their tops. But rather than jailing him, Judge Lucraft suspended Karn’s 18-month sentence for two years and banned him from working with children for five years. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and was given a five-year sexual offences prevention order. Karn asked for six counts of possession of extreme pornography to be taken into consideration, arising from DVDs found at his house during a police search, and a single count of possession of indecent photographs of a child. Yet Judge Lucraft, who was sitting at Norwich Crown Court last week, said an immediate jail term would unfairly affect Karn’s family. He said: “I have to consider the impact on them: people who are not in any way at fault yet might suffer serious hardship from your actions.” It followed mitigation whereby Karn’s offences were described as ‘opportunistic’ by the defence. Jude Durr branded the incident as a ‘moment of madness’ and said a prison sentence would punish Karn’s family as much as him. “Imprisonment will almost certainly lead to him losing his job. If he loses his liberty and they lose their house, that would have pretty dev
ARM extended and head flung back, this little chipmunk performs a loose-limbed yoga move .
HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .
Families in an Indian slum put their lives on the line by living on top of an ACTIVE railway track .
Megan Brailsford, 32, from Cambridgeshire, met Daniel Dugdale, 29, in September 2020 .
PERCHING on top of a gate, this young barn swallow waits patiently for his mum to return with dinner .
A pair of adorable polar bear cubs play-fight with each other in the Alaskan snow .
A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .
A northern potoo shows it is a master of disguise as it perches on a tree stump and blends into the bark .
WITH STUNNING colours and serene scenes, these photographs capture the otherworldly beauty of the English coast .
A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .
WITH a paw in the air and his tongue hanging from his mouth, it is clear to see that this little groundhog is struggling to wake up and leave behind the comfort of his burrow .