A PAEDOPHILE who groomed an 11-year-old boy online has won a cut in his prison sentence on appeal.
Mark Chester, 36, of Buckland Close, Swindon tried to lure the boy to his home while they chatted on a web camera on his Xbox.
He was jailed for four-and-half-years at Swindon Crown Court after he was convicted of six child sex offences, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, last August.
But three of the country’s most senior judges at London’s Appeal Court yesterday upheld a sentence challenge by Chester, cutting his jail term by six months after ruling that he did not get enough credit for pleading guilty.
Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC said Chester posed as a teenager when he made contact with the young victim as they accessed the web using their Xboxes.
The victim’s mother was alerted to Chester’s advances after she discovered a text.
Chester’s lawyers said the judge erred in deducting just 12.5 per cent from his sentence for his guilty pleas.
Judge Bourne-Arton cut Chester’s jail term to four years.
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