Court Cheers as man jailed for child sex offences

HERE were emotional scenes at Bristol Crown Court yesterday as a man was jailed for more than two years for a string of child sex offences.

- Tristan CORK [e-mail]

Supporters of his victims stood to clap and cheer as the judge said the offences by James Kelvin were so serious he would have to send him to prison.

And one of the West's top judges, Judge Peter Blair, urged the victims of Kelvin’s crimes to send their victim impact statements to the Home Secretary and ask for more money for Avon and Somerset police, after hearing that there was a two-year delay in police examining his phones and laptops.

Kelvin, 51, had pleaded guilty earlier this year at Bristol Magistrates’ Court to a series of offences, and ata hearing at the Crown Court in June was warned he could be given a prison sentence. The case was adjourned in June for a presentence report, and yesterday the court was told that a pre-sentence report said Kelvin could be dealt with using a suspended sentence and a hefty community punishment order.

But after hearing details of his crimes, and the victim impact statements from those involved, Judge Peter Blair took the unusual option of ordering that he should serve time in prison for the offences consecutively, rather than concurrently, giving him a total of 26 months in prison.