A man jailed for sexual offences with a dog has been given permission to appeal his prison sentence for other crimes that he also admitted.
Peter Leigh was sent to prison for two years and ten months earlier this year for a string of offences including the possession of extreme pornography and telecommunication offences as well as the animal cruelty case.
Due to the nature of some of the crimes Express is unable to publish specific details of all of the charges he faced.
In February, the 73-year-old and another man were sentenced by the Royal Court for some offences, while both the men and a woman were sentenced by the Magistrate’s Court on other charges including the case involving the dog.
Leigh was the only one put in prison, with the other man and the woman receiving 220 and 170 hours of community service respectively.
Leigh – represented by Advocate Peter Ferbrache – has been given leave to appeal his prison sentence for some of those offences, including sending stories of an indecent character, sending an indecent image, and another crime that Express cannot detail.
He had been given a two year prison sentence for these crimes, which Advocate Ferbrache argued was “manifestly excessive”.
Through Advocate Ferbrache, Leigh argued that the messages had a “limited dissemination” and that the recipient was “willing”.
The victim in one count was “not vulnerable nor subject to his control or coercion” and “had consented” to the activities in question, Advocate Ferbrache told the Court.
It was argued that Leigh had been “placed under pressure by his Co-Defendant” (Chatting-Tonks) to send the indecent image, and that there was “an unjustifiable disparity” between the sentences given to the two men.
Leigh also argued that the starting point for each of the five offences was too high.
The Rt Hon Dame Julia Macur JA made no judgment on the sentences but she granted leave to appeal them – agreeing that it was “arguable” that the Royal Court had made mistakes in its sentencing.
Leigh’s appeal will be heard at a later date.