A PAEDOPHILE’S jail sentence was cut by soft judges while he was on the run overseas, it emerged last night.
Keefer Cooper, 70, fled Britain in 2009 after being allowed to keep his passport while he was on court bail.
He was sentenced to ten years’ jail in his absence for abusing two girls — one aged just six.
From his Philippines hideaway, Cooper instructed lawyers in London to appeal against the length of the sentence — and had it slashed to seven years.
Mrs Justice Dobbs, sitting with Lord Justice Thomas and Mrs Justice Sharp in the High Court, ruled that he deserved a “substantial” sentence, but the case lacked “very serious” aggravating features required to impose a ten-year term.
Cooper, who spent more than three years on the run, is now back behind bars in the UK after members of Scotland Yard’s Extradition Squad flew him to Heathrow.
Fury erupted as details of his case were revealed for the first time last night. Tory MP Philip Davies said: “The courts should be looking to increase this man’s sentence, not reduce it.” The Sun’s Justice Campaigners Shy Keenan and Dr Sara Payne called for Attorney General Dominic Grieve to probe the case.
They said: “It is disgusting that the judiciary allowed him to appeal against sentences for horrible sex offences in his absence.”
The mother of Cooper’s victims branded the justice system “worse than useless”. She said: “I feel angry and betrayed.” Retired plumber Cooper, from Romford, Essex, molested the girls in a series of attacks over a five-year period and was arrested in May 2009.
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