'No legal basis' to appeal sentence for paedophile GP

There is "no legal basis" to refer the sentence imposed on a GP who had more than 200 indecent images of children to the Court of Appeal, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has said.

Alan Trevor Campbell, of Silverbrook Park in Newbuildings, County Londonderry, was given 75 hours of community service and a two-year probation order last month.

Following his sentencing, politicians called for it to be reviewed saying it was "unduly lenient" and "appalling".

However, the PPS has confirmed that after considering the case, they have been "unable to identify any legal error" in the sentencing.

In a statement, the PPS said it has "carefully considered the sentence imposed in the case of Alan Trevor Campbell, taking into consideration the judge's sentencing remarks and sentencing guidelines, to determine whether there is a legal basis to refer it to the Court of Appeal".

"Following this process it has been determined that there is no legal basis to refer the sentence imposed to the Court of Appeal."

It went on to say that "the custody threshold is passed where a person is in possession of large amounts of material in Class A or has distributed a small amount of such material".

"A community-based penalty is generally considered appropriate where the amount of material is small, and the defendant has no previous convictions."

The PPS highlighted that the "independent judiciary have set clear guidelines that have to be followed when sentencing all offenders to ensure a consistency in approach".

Campbell had been working as a GP at a medical practice in County Down when he was arrested in January 2022.

He pleaded guilty to 11 charges relating to possessing and making indecent images and videos of children.

The charges related to dates between October 2014 and January 2022.

The photographs and videos found on six of Campbell's devices were classed as category A, B and C - with A the most serious, denoting images involving sexual activity or sadism.

A PPS spokesperson said that it "recognises that there is rightly public concern when cases involving indecent images of children come before the courts, particularly where the defendant is in a position of trust".

"The courts also recognise that the abuse of young and vulnerable children in the production of indecent images is abhorrent.

"Those who access such material perpetuate the market for this abuse and are guilty by association with those who originally carried out despicable acts in creating the images in the first place."

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