Teaching assistant jailed
Court of appeal quash suspended
A teaching assistant from Manchester given a suspended sentence for having sex with an underage boy has been jailed after a Court of Appeal ruling today.
Caroline Berriman saw her suspended sentence quashed after the court of appeal instead imposed an immediate sentence of 2 year’s imprisonment on Caroline Berriman for sexual activity with a boy under the age of 16.
Berriman, a classroom assistant in Manchester who had sex with a teenage boy on multiple occasions between April and July in 2014, was handed a 24 month suspended sentence in September this year.
This sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentences Scheme by the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP who today said:
“Caroline Berriman, who worked as a trusted classroom assistant, groomed and then took advantage of a teenage boy, plainly abusing that position of trust. I referred the case to the Court of Appeal because the original sentence failed to fully reflect the ages of the defendant and the victim.
“I am therefore pleased the Court of Appeal today imposed a 2 year immediate prison term on Berriman which should reassure the public and send out a strong message that teenagers of both genders have a legal right to be protected from grooming and sexual interference.”