A man exposed by online paedophile hunters has failed in a bid to reduce his jail sentence after claiming the judge failed to take enough account that his victims were not real young girls.
Jamie Overson, 37, was sentenced to three years and three months for sex offences against what he believed were 13 and 14-year-olds but were in fact members of a group known as Phoenix Guardians of the Innocent.
The former binman and forklift driver was arrested on June 12 last year after being confronted by the group at his home at Northumberland Street in Norwich.
He was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court in November after pleading guilty to five offences including sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
In an application to the Court of Appeal he sought to reduce his jail term by claiming Judge Alice Robinson had not properly adjusted his sentence to reflect he had been exchanging online messages with ‘decoys’.
His counsel Matthew McNiff told a hearing on Thursday the sentence had also not reflected other mitigation including probation assessments.
But dismissing the appeal a panel of three judges said his sentence had correctly taken into account a “reduction for decoys” together with his age and mitigation.
“In our view that final sentence cannot be described as excessive, let alone manifestly so,” they added.
They said Overson had exchanged a “very large number” of Whatsapp messages with what he believed to be a 13-year-old including sending indecent images and instructing her to carry out sex acts.
After his arrest he was found to have messaged two other profiles purporting to be girls aged 13 and 14 asking one to meet him in Blackpool.
Jailing him Judge Robinson also imposed a 10 year sexual harm prevention order saying he posed a danger to children.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here