A failure to get into Oxford as mitigation for viewing child sex abuse images surely points to a need to review 2012 guidelines

Considering how often their profession is associated with venality, it seems only fair to record occasions when lawyers go out of their way, entirely unpaid, to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice.

They were generous last week following the result of Rex v Huw Edwards, in explaining, basically, that the public should not get too exercised: his treatment was standard, not two-tier, absolutely in line with the official guidelines, even, one expert suggested, given the number of (known) images, on the high side. The hope being, presumably, that if the public can be made to understand the sentencing process, it can be persuaded to accept the outcome. On this occasion the signs, including in the most liberal spaces, are not promising.

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