JUDGE BLASTED FOR LETTING PAEDO WALK FREE

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

Other great stories
ABANDONED CALIFORNIAN GOLD RUSH TOWN

A once bustling gold rush town in Mono County, California now stands completed deserted .

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND

THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .

A SMILEY GECKO SHEDS ITS SKIN AS HEATWAVE HITS BRITAIN

STRETCHING his little legs in the air, a smiley leaf-tailed gecko breaks free from his old, scaly skin .

SQUIRRELS SQUABBLE OVER LUNCH

SQUABBLING over the last piece of grain, these hungry squirrels are determined to stock up on as much food as possible .

MINI WONDERS OF THE WORLD

WONDERS of the world have been transformed into their mini-versions in a seven-year round the world adventure .

LIFE-LIKE PENCIL DRAWINGS

AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .

CUTE MINI LION

MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .

HORSE BEFRIENDS ADOPTED CAT

Going for long rides through vast fields together, this twosome share an unbreakable bond .

DAREDEVIL DIVERS HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME

SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .

ADORABLE EXOTIC KITTENS AT NASHVILLE ZOO

A BUMPER season of births has left zoo with three of the cutest exotic kittens you're likely to see .

SECRET POOL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT

HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .

ADORABLE BABY ORANGUTAN PLAYS WITH MUM

TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .