Christopher Daniel: Allowed to walk free.

By Russell Findlay

The mum of a girl who was sexually abused by a teenage student has been told that Crown Office prosecutors will not appeal against his sentence.

Christopher Daniel, 18, was found guilty of numerous sexual assaults on the girl in his home when she was aged six to eight and he was 15 to 17.

But there was an outcry when STV News revealed that Sheriff Gerard Sinclair gave the dental student an 'absolute discharge' - meaning he has no criminal record and is not on the sex offenders register.

The mum met with two senior Crown Office lawyers on Friday and was told that they would not appeal the sentence, despite widespread public and political criticism.


The mum told STV News: "The meeting lasted around an hour and a half and I spent a good deal of it in tears. It was heartbreaking.

"The Crown Office initially told us they would appeal but then dropped it. Today they confirmed that they won't appeal.

"The reason they gave was that in law the sentence is deemed to be not 'unduly lenient'. It seems that it does not tick enough boxes to be successful.

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"I asked them 'do you think this is right?' and you could tell from their body language that they did not."

Sinclair - who is also chief executive of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission - wrote a report explaining his 'wholly exceptional' sentence after the Crown initially moved to appeal.

It was shared with Daniel's defence lawyers but the victim's family have been refused a copy. Instead, the Crown lawyers read out excerpts during the meeting.

The mum said: "They said they wouldn't give us a copy because it's the sheriff's report. It's not fair but then no part of this has been fair."

Following criticism of the sentence at Dumbarton Sheriff Court, the Judicial Office for Scotland released a version of Sinclair's reasoning.


It said Daniel had acted due to "inappropriate curiosity" not "sexual gratification" even though he was found guilty of sexual assault.

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Sinclair also said the girl did not appear to have suffered any "long-lasting effects" - despite no-one asking her family who say that she has.

There was also anger over Sinclair's admission that a conviction could have damaged Daniel's career prospects.

During today's meeting, the mum was told that the Crown would ask the Scottish Sentencing Council, chaired by judge Lady Dorrian, to review the sentencing of under 18s convicted of sex offences.

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr, who has spoken with the family, raised the case at First Minister's Questions last month.

Nicola Sturgeon and justice secretary Humza Yousaf said that judicial decisions are independent from politicians.

The mum said: "Hopefully these proposed changes to sentencing guideline may lead to something positive coming out of this but we will see.

"People who hear about this case can see how so much of it is wrong.

"I don't know what else we can do but I want to be able to tell my daughter when she's older that we did everything we could. I'm not done with it yet."

A Crown Office spokesman said: "Officials from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have met with the family to provide them with information about the handling of this case and the Crown's role in appeals against sentencing."