January 2013

‘Unspeakable’ paedophile has indefinite jail term reduced

A “cruel and deceitful” pervert who was jailed indefinitely after persuading a girl to perform sex acts on a dog has had his potentially lifelong sentence quashed.

Peter Phillips’ crimes came to light when his wife, Suzie, uploaded secretly recorded images of the vile acts online for the young victim’s friends to see.

The 56-year-old, of Cromwell Street, Newport, admitted two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and 22 child sex abuse offences and was jailed indefinitely at Cardiff Crown Court in August.

The imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence meant Phillips could have spent the rest of his life in jail, but he will walk free after serving less than three years after winning his appeal.

Appeal judge Mr Justice Keith said there was not enough evidence that Phillips poses a “significant” risk to children in the future and imposed a five-and-a-half year term.

“This is another case of a middle-aged man taking sexual advantage of an immature schoolgirl,” said the judge, sitting with Lady Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice King.

The Court of Appeal heard Phillips met the 15-year-old through an internet chatroom and convinced her he was of a similar age and that he lived with his parents.

After chatting with her about sex, Phillips persuaded the girl to perform a sex act and, without her knowledge, recorded it over a webcam.

When she began a close relationship with another young person, he told the girl to prove her love to him by performing a sick sex act on a dog.

Again, the acts were captured by a webcam and eventually posted online by Phillips’ wife, Suzie, in an “act of spite, jealousy and revenge”, said the judge. She was jailed for two years.

The girl suffered such abuse at the hands of those who had discovered her secret that she was left virtually housebound. Family relationships were damaged and she ended up self-harming.

She said she felt “physically sick” when she discovered she had been deceived and could not understand why she did what she did.

“The appellant himself was not responsible for the recordings having been made public, but the fact remains that the impact on the victim would not have arisen if the appellant had not made the recordings in the first place,” the appeal judge said.

At the sentencing hearing last August, Judge David Wynn Morgan spoke of “unspeakable offences committed by an unspeakable person”.

He considered Phillips such a public danger that he should be locked up indefinitely and only released when, and if, the Parole Board is convinced he is safe – effectively, a life sentence.

But that decision has now been overturned on appeal, opening the way for Phillips’ automatic release on licence after serving half of his new five-and-a-half year term.

Giving the judgment, Mr Justice Keith said the court was “doubtful” whether the crown court judge was right to say such a “significant risk” of future harm existed.

“We don’t for one moment minimise the huge trauma the victim is going through,” he continued.

“We don’t doubt that serious psychological harm is likely to come to young girls in the future if the appellant were to repeat offending of this type.

“Not without some hesitation, we have concluded that the risk of the appellant repeating offending of this type when released from prison, after taking appropriate offence-related courses, or of him committing other types of specified sexual offences, isn’t such that the risk can properly be characterised as significant.

“We allow the appellant’s appeal, we quash the sentence of imprisonment for public protection and, giving an appropriate discount for his pleas of guilty, we substitute sentences of five years and six months imprisonment.”

Phillips was not in court for his appeal hearing.

August 2012

Newport pair jailed after child’s sex acts posted on web

UNSPEAKABLE: Judge brands Newport pervert cruel, cunning, and deceitful  

AN underage girl was told to perform sex acts on an animal to prove her love for a man posing as a teenage boy.

A court heard yesterday how the man’s wife then posted the secret recordings on Facebook.

Peter Phillips, 56, met the 15-year-old last year on a website for 13 – 17-year olds, Caroline Rees, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court. He said he was 15 and called Mick Richardson.

They spoke online and Phillips, of Cromwell Road, Newport, asked her to perform sex acts in front of her webcam which, unbeknown to her, he would record.

Phillips became aware of another relationship she had and said she had to prove her love for him by performing sex acts on a dog in front of the webcam.

Again, this was recorded and Phillips’ wife, Suzie Phillips, 32, of Coverack Road, Newport, uploaded the images onto the girl’s Facebook account.

A victim statement read in court said the girl considered ‘Mick’ to be her boyfriend and someone she trusted.

An attempt to return to school resulted in her being verbally abused, so she dropped out, her grades fell, she began to self harm and said she is “practically housebound.”

She added: “I feel I will not be able to live a normal life again unless I move away and start afresh, I intend to change my name when I do that.”

Andrew Morse, for Peter Phillips, said he expressed remorse and was truly sorry.

Sue Ferrier, defending Suzie Phillips, said she understands the seriousness of her actions and is sorry.

Phillips has started divorce proceedings against her husband.

Peter Phillips pleaded guilty to two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and 22 counts of making indecent photos of a child.

He was jailed for six years and eight months, banned from living with under-18s or having unsupervised contact with them. He is banned from social network sites and from contacting the victim and must sign on the sex offenders register for life.

His wife admitted two counts of distributing indecent photos of a child and was jailed for 24 months.

Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “These are unspeakable acts committed by an unspeakable man. The levels of cunning, deceit, manipulation and cruelty displayed means you pose a high risk of harm to children.”

He said Suzie Phillips posting the images online was “an act of spite, jealousy and revenge”

which allowed almost everyone the victim knew to “witness her shame and humiliation.”